Boxing: George St-Pierre, a mentor and a friend for Artur Beterbiev

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            <p><strong>The fight between Artur Beterbiev and Oleksandr Gvozdyk will be presented on RDS Direct on Friday at 10 pm</strong>

Artur Beterbiev will face Oleksandr Gvozdyk on Friday night in a unification bout of the WBC and IBF light-heavyweight belts. The duel will be shown live on RDS Direct around 10 pm, and then broadcast on RDS2 after the UFC Fight Night Gala around midnight.

Beterbiev (14-0, 14 KOs) achieved the elite of his sport by himself, but his friendship with Georges St-Pierre and his support propelled him even higher.

The two fighters met several years ago at the famous Tristar Gym in Montreal. At that moment, Beterbiev was barely speaking English and needed a friend's help to translate their conversations, but he quickly clicked between them.

"He was famous, but he was still a simple guy," said Beterbiev in an interview with Mark Kriegel of ESPN, with GSP. I could talk to him and ask him anything. I asked him a lot of questions. "

"We talked about fighting. He's a boxer and I'm a mixed martial arts fighter, so we have a lot in common, "added GSP. "The mental aspect is very similar. So we developed a kind of camaraderie and we started to mix with each other. His English has really improved since the first time I met him. We had trouble understanding each other at first, but now it's much better. "

GSP says he quickly saw all the potential that Beterbiev had in him and he found that it was all a warrior.

"I immediately saw that he had the soul of a champion in the making. To be a champion and to remain so, you need physical skills and a lot of mental strength. But sometimes it takes more than that. You have to be well surrounded and guided. He is a good guy with a big heart. I did not want to interfere in his private life, but I knew it was a rough diamond. In sport, some people want to take advantage of a talented athlete, especially if he comes from elsewhere. I wanted him to be successful in life because I'm doing the same job. This is the hardest job of all. We put our lives on the line every time we get into the arena. He puts his life on the line and it's important to me that we take good care of him. "

Beterbiev will be in front of him Gvozdyk for the second time in his career on Friday. The first time, 10 years ago, Beterbiev had put him out of action in the second round, but among fans.

"He's a good opponent, he has experience," said Beterbiev of the Ukrainian. I think it's going to be a great fight. I do not know about Gvozdyk, but for my part, our first fight is behind me. "

For its part, GSP is retired. On the other hand, Beterbiev does not believe that he has definitely finished with the competition.

"I do not think in his heart he really feels retired. He still trains every day, he is not really retired, "says the boxer.

"I love to train. I am 38 years old, I try to be objective. If the good fight for me comes, they know where to find me, "replica GSP referring to the lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. "We tried to make it possible, but it did not work. If everything is aligned at the contractual level, as we speak, I could come back. "

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