Fight Club Members
Manager Estephan runs down roster

As the most prolific boxing manager in the city, there certainly is no profiling Montreal's Camille Estephan's fighters. Estephan and his Eye of the Tiger team has blue chip prospects from heavyweight WBC Silver belt holder Bermaine Stiverne and former top ranked middleweight David Lemieux all the way down to novices such as Chris Plaitis who makes his pro debut this weekend. And every level in between including Dierry Jean and Nicholson Poulard who fight for North American titles Saturday as they launch a new four fight series entitled "Fight Club."

FightNews sat down with Estephan and got a complete rundown of his fighters and what we might expect to see in the future from his ever expanding roster. “I come from a boxing family,” said the Lebanon born manager who moved to Montreal in 1986. “My father was a boxer as well as my uncle. I have a passion for it, I grew up with it. I had stopped for school but when I started back in the gym, I noticed Bermaine Stiverne and initially I didn’t know who he was. I wanted to spar with someone and my coach was laughing when I said what about this guy? He’s very fast and you never see the jab coming. That’s how it started, he needed help, some advice, he had a controversial loss and was down and I told him he had to change some things. When his contract came up with his manager, I became his manager. I wanted to have a very structured setup for Bermaine, conditioning coach, nutritionist, boxing coaches and it was part of getting him structured and supported. We got him set up and other guys noticed.”

Nicholson Poulard soon followed and suddenly the wheels were in motion and haven’t stopped since. “It just grew, other guys heard and hopped on.”
When asked what he believes a manager’s role is, Estephan responds, “I’m here for the fighters, there’s a lot of mistakes that can be done in a career. I believe the devil is in the details. Small things make a big difference. When we compare our team to others, I don’t want to put others down, there’s often a lack of structure with others. Beyond that it’s making sure the guys are motivated. Especially when you’re not fighting or fights get cancelled. You need support. I’m here for two things, make sure they’re motivated, and make sure they’re prepared.”


Dierry Jean: I really believe Dierry Jean has the talent, that extreme level talent. I believe that he could 'the' name out of Montreal one day. If he keeps focussed and disciplined as he is right now, since I've started with him I've been very happy with his approach to boxing; boxing changed his life. The things this kid can do in the ring, it's heart, it really is. If there is one guy who could become a headliner in Montreal above anybody else, it's this guy.



Nicholson Poulard: I think Nicholson is going to pull through. Has never been in better shape than what he's shown lately. He has had a great camp. Everything is right and we're really happy about this fight. His conditioning is better than ever. He knows this is an opportunity he cannot miss. We know Thompson is a good fighter, we’ve hired him for David for sparring, we know what he’s all about. It’s a 50-50 fight. Nicholson has sparred with Jean Pascal, he sparred with Bute, with Alavrez and he looks good, now he has to bring it to the fight. All I can do is give him the chance, you can bring the horse to water, he has to drink.

David Lemieux: David is hopefully fighting in June on the Rapide et Dangereux card. That fight is going to depend on his hand. His hand looks good now but it's day to day. We're going to see how he feels the next couple of weeks and make a final decision. But he should be able to fight, it looks good today. In fact I want to make sure David has the same structure and support that all the other guys have. With the talent he has, and the power that he has, we're looking to do big big things. We want an eight round fight to bring him back. We discussed a guy (Jaudiel) Zepeda who fought Renan St Juste in Romania. A very durable guy, I think we need rounds for David. Hopefully we do this fight in June and then again in August with another guy like that but a ten rounder.and then, we're back. He's in fantastic shape, he is one of the most committed athletes I have ever seen inside the gym. Outside the gym he's not a party animal, he's not a drinker, he's just a cool kid. I'm very happy we ended up together.

The Alcine fight, I saw the result differently to tell you the truth. It was a learning experience for David and Alcine fought the fight of his life but I don't see the point of it (a rematch). It's a good local fight and generate interest, if we need it, we'll do it, if not, we move on. I think David did better than what the results showed. I don't have an eagerness to do it again. He thought he won and he'd like to show who the real man in the ring is, but personally I don't see the point. First we'll have the two fights and see what happens. It's a local fight with a lot of interest so Yvon Michel may want to do it, if the money is right, we'll do it.

Bermaine Stiverne: With Bermaine it's a very specific situation. We're there. We won a title with the Silver belt, that gave us a mandatory at Vitali Klitschko, there's a lot of gray areas around that. We'll see what happens next but they don't have too many fighters to fight. He wants to fight in September and we're talking about September. The difference between a mandatory and a non-mandatory is big money, so we're going to have to solve that puzzle first. If we can't reach a deal I think he'll fight in August because Don King with the fight with Cloud and Pascal has two other spots for his fighters. One of them would be Bermaine and it would be the defense of his WBC title. If the mandatory situation is there with Klitschko, it's a simpler negotiation. If not, it becomes more difficult because we won't fight for anything below what the mandatory would give us.

Antonin Decarie: He is fully recovered and able to fight so we're going to negotiate next week for a fight and wee where he's going to be placed. They're looking at the Showtime date as well, they don't know with Adonis and everybody, so we'll see soon how it unfolds. I'd like to fight in June, he'll be ready in June.

Baha Laham: I have a lot of faith in Baha Laham. He had a terrible fight last fight. I was extremely disappointed in everything prior to his fight. I wanted to make a change and Russ (Anber) is no longer his coach. I wanted somebody more committed to their fighters. There were all sorts of things, we thought it was an eight rounder and only found out in second round it was six, but I want to look forward, he's very very talented. He's trained right now by Hercules Kyvelos and the Grant brothers and they're doing an amazing job, he feels that they care and that he can do well, and he can do very well. Eight or nine years ago he was voted the number one fighter
pound-for-pound so it remains to be seen that the years that he missed will cost him an opportunity. I don't think so though, if he can stay motivated, he's the kind of guy who has to stay focussed. I have hopes, he's a prospect for sure.



Ghislain Maduma: He's the best kept secret right now. The hand speed, the power, the discipline, he has three kids and is very mature. Very competitive, never misses a training session. He has the talent, he lost two fights in the amateurs in the last round because he ran out of gas. He didn't train, he had kids and had to work. Now he's in a position, he trains, he doesn't work and is in the gym regularly. We're going to shock a lot of people with Ghislain. I don't want to get him opponents who are not worthy, I don't want to get him opponents who won't last, we're not fighting for these fights, we're fighting for a world title. Believe me when I tell you he’ll go to levels few in North America have been to because he has unbelievable skills. I want him to be rated, I want him to be ranked, that’s what we’re going after.

Ahmad Cheikho: Lost his last two fights, spectacular guy Because of the work ethic he is showing me now, because of his commitment he is showing, I think he has learned from those two defeats. I would to stick behind him and give him a chance. He has a crazy amount of talent, but he has to listen and learn from the mistakes he has made in the past. We’d like to get him a couple of fights and then bring Vargas back in the ring with Ahmad Chiekho. It will be a different story next time.

Schiller Hyppolite: Every time I go to the Claude Robbiliard, I see this kid training so hard on his own. I always wondered, who is he? I never knew who he was. He impressed me with how serious he was, I liked his attitude. For the two years, every time I go, he’s there, he doesn’t fight, but he’s there. I think he has a lot of potential, he’s talented too.