Before dreaming of being an actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo wanted to be a boxer ("
I lacked a lot of things to become a boxer, I hit well but the blows but I did not take them at all
", he said in Boomerang on France Inter in 2016).
Jean-Paul Belmondo will never cut this link with sport. He played football (goalkeeper of the Polymusclés, a team made up of artists and former footballers), rugby and as an assiduous spectator supported the Paris SG (he had participated in the financing of the Parisian club in its beginnings). smile, his tan and his sidekick Charles Gérard in the stands of Roland-Garros, on the motor circuits to accompany the adventures of his son Paul or to land as close as possible to the rings of this boxing which marked his childhood.
“
Thank you for everything you have done for boxing. Thank you for your unconditional support from the start, in the ring and especially outside,
“posted on Twitter Tony Yoka who will play his comeback fight at Roland Garros against the Croatian Peter Milas, this Friday. “
I remember words he said to me that made me smile. He said to me: 'enjoy life, Tony!'. He told me his memories, told me about the freedom he had known and lived with his friends. This freedom, he embodied it in his life and in his game
“, He added in L'Equipe. Jean-Paul Belmondo attended in June 2017 the professional debut of the Olympic champion at the Palais des Sports against the American Travis Clarke. And the entry of Jean-Paul Belmondo in his thick shearling jacket had been one of the highlights of the evening. "
Something had happened in the room,
" remembers Guillaume Loisy who covered the evening.
Guest of journalist Apolline de Malherbe on
RMC
this Tuesday, Brahim Asloum, Olympic champion in 2000 paid tribute to “
Bébel
”, a great lover of the Noble Art: “
He is still the most beautiful ambassador that French boxing has ever had. . World boxing had Mohamed Ali, we in France had Belmondo, who represented us in the most beautiful way. He was an important person for my career, he was also my godfather for the Olympics. I had the chance to get to know him more then, to have a lot of advice from him, of kindness. Jean-Paul was quite incredible. ”
The French Tennis Federation, Teddy Riner or the figures of French rugby have, with emotion, greeted the legendary figure who knew how to leave the big screen to turn into a passionate spectator to forge a strong link with the world of sport.