When Simon Kean found himself head over heels during the second minute of the sixth round of his fight against Shawndell Terell Williams, the vast majority of fans almost certainly doubted the Trois-Rivières heavyweight’s ability to recover from this hitch.

At that precise moment, the six-foot-five giant seemed doomed to relive the nightmare of June 2019, when he suffered the only setback of his career against Dillon Carman. But taking advantage of the indiscipline of the American who refused to stay in the neutral corner, the Quebecer took advantage of a longer count to regain his senses and turn the tide.

Kean (21-1, 20 KOs) even allowed himself to return the favor to Williams (13-7) a few moments later in the round before finishing the job in the ninth by recording two more falls to the floor . An outcome that obviously relieved the entourage of the Mauricie boxer.

“It was clear that when he got up and I saw that there was a minute and a half left [à faire au round]I said to myself: “woah”, admitted his trainer Vincent Auclair a few moments after the victory of his protege in the semi-finals of an Eye of the Tiger Management gala held on Saturday.

“But Simon managed to close his defense and hang on [à son adversaire] to save time. When he then came back to the corner, he took deep breaths and we sprayed him with water and he came back. It was even he who told us: “OK, guys, we don’t panic!”.

“I also liked how he managed to shake his opponent. It was not in a disorganized way. It was a double jab followed by a gearshift. Simon isn’t stuck on it. The goal was to keep it as safe as possible. A blow came so quickly…

“I’m proud of the courage he showed and the fact that he was able to keep his focus. »

“After taking a beating, unlike his usual practice, Simon wasn’t just sitting there trying to settle the matter right away,” added Eye of the Tiger Management head coach and development director Marc Ramsay. He took a step back, reorganized himself and came back. I found him much more organized in his affairs. I liked what I saw. »

Fighting only a second fight under Auclair, Kean still has a lot of work to do in the gym before hoping for a meaningful matchup on the international scene. Against Williams, Kean showed great things, but others are still to be refined.

“It’s not with fights like those against Don Haynesworth (Auclair’s first with Kean, editor’s note) that we will know if Simon has progressed or not, explained Auclair. There are always things that won’t be perfect, that’s obvious, but we have to keep building.

“And it’s not a question of the number of fights, but of click. Again [samedi soir], his left hand was low and yet we had worked on that a lot in training. When we called him back, he would bring it up, but it only lasted a moment and he would bring it down. »

“Changes don’t happen by magic. Changing a boxer is a small detail at a time and it takes six, eight, nine months, continued Ramsay. Sometimes you take a break for a month and all the work you’ve done has to be redone. It’s really a very small achievement at a time. »

One thing is certain, Kean seems to take all means to achieve his ends. Ramsay even admits that he strongly doubted the will of the Trifluvien to invest himself completely in his career.

“It’s been over a year since [Simon et Vincent] work together and they work hard. But quite honestly, I didn’t think that of Simon, Ramsay concluded. It was really a prejudice. I see him at my gym every day…I don’t train him, but I watch him over my coffee.

“He’s always the first in and the last out. And he asks a lot of questions. I didn’t have that image of him. From the outside, I didn’t think he was that serious. Vincent put in a lot of hours with him and today I think it paid off very, very well. »