- ASSE's top scorer this season (10 goals in Ligue 1), Denis Bouanga will be his main offensive asset on Friday (9:10 p.m.) when challenging the Parisian armada in the Coupe de France final.
- Before resuming with the Greens on June 17, the 25-year-old Gabonese international experienced a particular deconfinement in May, since he requested a physical trainer who was also a boxing trainer.
- Sylvain Thomas tells 20 Minutes how "the machine" Denis Bouanga amazed him for a month, including during workshops in the ring, with the gloves.
The deconfinement barely started in France, on May 11, Sylvain Thomas sees four footballers from Saint-Etienne land in his boxing hall in Saint-Chamond (Loire). This liberal nurse, a state graduate as a contact sport coach but also as a physical trainer, is used to welcoming the two young pros Marvin Tshibuabua (18 years old), Victor Petit (19 years old), as well as Hichem Khoutri , trained with them at ASSE. But this is the first time that he will work with Denis Bouanga. Best player of the Greens in his first season in Forez (10 goals and 3 assists in L1) and main asset for a feat on Friday (9:10 p.m.) in the Coupe de France final against PSG, this one l 'called during confinement to ask him to accompany him until the resumption of training with his club on June 17.
“I'm really not football and I didn't know anything about him, smiles Sylvain Thomas. I was quickly explained who he was so I went to see his actions live on YouTube. There, I said to myself: '' OK, I have a very big level in front of me ''. It just goes to show that professionalism cannot be invented because it was very invested from the outset. A great bond is created between the former striker from Nîmes, who did not have a personal physical trainer, and this 2010 French vice-champion of sanda (Chinese boxing). “He arrived telling me that he had trained during confinement, but no, he had just talked, laughs the boxer. At this level, you need someone behind to allow the athlete to push his limits. He often told me that he didn't see the time passing with me. "
"He came to recover the physical criteria of the boxer"
And for good reason, during one or two two-hour sessions each day (except Sunday) for a month, Denis Bouanga goes through high-intensity physical preparation exercises, in particular to "perfect cardio" and "strengthen the hamstrings" . The 25-year-old Gabonese international earns a nickname from Sylvain Thomas, "the machine".
Denis came to a boxing hall to recover the boxer's physical criteria. He never stops, he has three lungs. The higher I set the bar, the more he likes it. He is always in the challenge, and he gives me room with "Tomorrow, will you do it anyway, coach?", Even when he comes out of a workshop. "
By joining the association Born to fight in the spring, the Greens striker flies very far from the world of tennis ball and other toro (mea culpa for clichetons). “Denis arrived with a real attraction, and even a passion, for boxing, insists Sylvain Thomas. He follows MMA a lot. He did not come to make fun with gloves. He knew there was a lot of coordination work, moving around, that it was a game of chess. He was always in demand for explanations. It was a language not known to him so it took a monstrous effort in his thinking. "
He succeeds in exercises for semi-professional boxers
Efforts rewarded by "recreations to cut with the foot", via several exercises usually reserved for boxers. Denis Bouanga therefore takes possession of the ring and the spotlight, even if there is obviously never a question of launching him into a real fight. A follower of neuroscience, the 41-year-old physical trainer focuses this astonishing collaboration on "mobility, reactivity, and in particular on the peripheral field of vision".
Thanks to a workshop in which the footballer has to touch lights as quickly as possible, in the order requested, his progress is astounding. The physical trainer of Chafia Djouahra, double ISKA and K1 world champion, specifies: “In a few weeks, for example, he has gained 100 hundredths in eye speed, all while succeeding in the exercises that I have semi-professional boxers do. "
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@nepourcombattre avec @sylvain_npc 🥊⏳
A post shared by BOUANGA DENIS 🍀 (@ bouanga_20) on Jun 12, 2020 at 11:42 am PDT
The more fluid gestures of the “samurai” Bouanga
His evolution is just as “spectacular” concerning his boxing technique, he who has never walked a ring in his life. “His first day with gloves, houlà, he was unstructured, remembers his new accomplice from the Loire. His arms tended to retract, which makes sense for a footballer working mostly on his lower body. But, for the last week, we were really on the boxing performance. He was technical, with much smoother body language. Denis absorbs all the advice, it's a sponge. "A characteristic which could allow him in the future" to gain in realism in front of the goal thanks to the strong decision-making process of the martial arts ", without forgetting" the mental dimension ".
“We express ourselves much more than a footballer via the kiai [fighting cry]. You cannot step into the ring showing that you are afraid. And yet I do not know a boxer who is not afraid. It is therefore an actor's game to succeed in convincing oneself of its success. "Notions which pleased the" samurai "(his other nickname obtained in Saint-Chamond), and which make sense before challenging the Parisian armada on Friday.
💥 He flew over the election like the season!
⚽️ 12 goals
🏆 9 man of the match trophies
👟 5 assists
... and 69% of the vote!
🥇 @BouangaDenis is the 𝙅𝙊𝙐𝙀𝙐𝙍 𝘿𝙀 𝙇𝘼 𝙎𝘼𝙄𝙎𝙊𝙉 😍 pic.twitter.com/04XeppI3Gz
"Denis likes discomfort"
The native of Le Mans is in any case preparing to return to competition near his peak of physical form. “Since the end of his season, he has gained 3 kg of muscle, his percentage of fat mass has remained the same and he has gained in extension, top speed, the power of the four-wheelers, cardio and maximum speed aerobic (VMA) ", summarizes Sylvain Thomas, rave about this athlete" very explosive and humble ".
"Frustrated" that this adventure has been put on hold for a month, Sylvain Thomas has not yet been in direct contact with ASSE. He would like "a sharp follow-up" with Denis Bouanga, whom he intends to go see play soon for the first time in the Cauldron. By then, the Stéphanois striker will perhaps have found this room of Saint-Chamond having launched its deconfinement, and its saying on the walls, "I believe in work and I fuck off luck", which "sticks well" to his state of mind.
Strategically, it was well seen on his part to resume in difficulty rather than in his area controlled through football. I broke the habits of these four footballers. Denis likes to be in discomfort. He made the move to come to a room he did not know, with a coach of 1.87 m and 97 kg that he did not know and who only screamed. "
Beware of the new Denis Bouanga: maybe he will split, Friday at the end of the locker room, with a little head to head against Neymar type pre-fight boxing weigh-in?
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