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Marc Ramsay is on the ascent.
The respected trainer and longtime fixture on the Montreal boxing scene will head the boxing department for the promotional company Eye of the Tiger Management, according to a press release sent out by the company Monday.
Camille Estephan, the founder and president of Montreal-based EOTTM, confirmed the announcement in a tweet.
“I would like to officially welcome Marc Ramsay,” Estephan wrote. “He will take the reins of EOTTM to bring it to the top of the industry. I will always be there to support him alongside [general manager Antonin Décarie] @Decarieboxing so that we can accomplish our greatest goals.”
According to The Journal of Montreal, Estephan made the move in order to focus on his primary job as a financial investment advisor.
In Ramsay, Estephan brings on board someone who possesses the kind of credibility that cannot easily be replicated. Ramsay has been in the corners of some of the best Montreal-based fighters in recent years, including light heavyweights Jean Pascal, Eleider Alvarez, and Artur Beterbiev, all of whom, at one point or another, have earned titles.
As director, Ramsay will be tasked with not only developing current fighters and handling day-to-day affairs but also recruiting new fighters to enter the company’s promotional fold. In addition, Ramsay will oversee training regimes for all EOTTM fighters in tandem with their respective head trainers. EOTTM is perhaps best known for backing the careers of Bermane Stiverne and David Lemieux.
The arrangement still allows Ramsay to continue training non-EOTTM fighters in heavyweight contender Oscar Rivas (27-1, 19 KOs) and current light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs); both are promoted by Las Vegas-based Top Rank. Rivas will contend for the WBC Bridgerweight title Oct. 22 against Philadelphia’s Bryant Jennings (22-4; 14 KOs) at the L’Olympia de Montreal in Montreal.
The appointment is bound to cause ripples within the Montreal boxing scene. Ramsay has long been associated with rival promotional outfit GYM, which is headed by Yvon Michel. In an email, Ramsay confirmed to BoxingScene.com that he is ending his commitment with Michel. AT GYM, Ramsay also played a big part in matchmaking. He is expected to have some say in that matter at EOTTM.
In light of the tragedy of Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, the Mexican boxer who lost her life earlier this month due to head injuries sustained in the ring on a card in Montreal in August, Ramsay plans to ramp up protocol.
“Of course, [zero] risk does not exist in boxing, but I think we still have to tighten the rules and one of the major problems is that anyone can become a boxing trainer without any training or [having] basic medical knowledge,” he told BoxingScene.com.
The next EOTTM card will take place Sept. 23 at the Vidéotron Center in Québec headlined by heavyweight Arslanbek Mahkmudov (12-0, 12 KOs) and super middleweight Christian Mbili (18-0, 17 KOs) in separate bouts.