"It's family," the young French boxer, a professional since he was 17, told AFP in the offices of the Jean-Marc Mormeck room in Torcy (Seine-et-Marne) where he trains. "My father was a boxer, so I wanted to do boxing too. I was taking the gloves, it was fun, so he took me back to the gym. I was eight years old and I got hooked very quickly."

Eleven years later, Bakary Samaké is already preparing to fight the eleventh professional fight of his career. It will be Saturday night in Gagny, Seine-Saint-Denis, the city where he has lived since childhood. He will challenge Argentina's Lucas Bastida in ten rounds for a world junior title.

On the program of the last training before his fight on Saturday: muscle awakening, shadow-boxing, bear paws, punching bag ... "Just to be always awake," says his father Issa Samaké, himself a son and nephew of a boxer, who is also his coach.

"Instinctive"

The ascent was expeditious for the former child all puny and unsociable. "I was reserved, let's say, and boxing allowed me to express myself, in quotation marks," he said. "It's really the feeling of being in the ring that I like. You and the opponent, it's instinctive."

From the beginning, its potential seems obvious. "He was moving well, he was not bad. He had something that told me: +this child will end up champion+", recalls Issa Samaké.

"It was made for him," he sums up.

At 19 years old, an age when most French boxers are seasoned in the amateur environment in the hope of competing in the Olympic Games, Samaké is already preparing to seek a third professional title, after winning the "IBO Mediterranean" belt in June 2022 and that of champion of the... Luxembourg in November 2021.

Because for his debut in the pros, the young man came up against the legislation in force in France which prohibits professional fights to under 18s. For his first outings, the boxer still a minor had to move to the Grand Duchy and Belgium.

A passage to the pros beyond the borders precipitated by the pandemic, explains the father-coach.

"Covid has confused us," he explains. "The hope of making the Olympics-2024 had become impossible. To make the Olympics, you have to have some experience in Olympic boxing and since Covid arrived, in junior, there was nothing left. So Covid has steered us into professional boxing."

French boxer Bakary Samaké in Torcy, March 14, 2023 four days before his international super welterweight © fight FRANCK FIFE / AFP/Archives

"I saw that he was ready, but as in France, the law prohibits the passage to pro for minors, I went to the Luxembourg federation which allowed me to go professional."

"A beautiful baby"

Over the years, training, travel and victories, the two men have developed a special relationship. "It's not always easy," Issa admits. "But it's worth living, it's a great adventure to share a passion with your child. Many would like to have this chance, we have it. The years go by quickly and then we will have only good memories."

This unusual trajectory must lead him to aim for a world championship title in the years to come, assume father and son. It must be said that at 19 years old, Bakary Samaké still has a lot of room for improvement, both technically and physically.

Bakary Samaké in a gymnasium in Torcy, March 14, 2023 during his preparation for an international fight in the super-welterweight © FRANCK FIFE / AFP/Archives

"Before I was very skinny, but when I started my preparation to go pro, we started physical training and I saw in a few months my body start to change," he describes.

"He's already a beautiful baby, so imagine in 3-4 years what he will be able to do," smiles the father.

© 2023 AFP