Boxing hope Wilfried Florentin shot dead, suspect arrested in Belgium – Liberation

2023-05-02 11:45:02

The young boxer Wilfried Florentin, 22, was killed by a gun on Sunday morning after a dispute in a night bar in Bonneuil-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). The suspect in his murder was arrested Monday at Brussels airport.

Shots that shattered a life, a promising career and a family. Sunday morning, around 8:30 a.m., the young 22-year-old boxer Wilfried Florentin was targeted by gunfire in front of the Unusual, a tea room and night establishment in Bonneuil-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). Transported to the hospital, he died of his injuries in the hours that followed. According to AFP, the Créteil prosecutor’s office indicates that the suspect in his murder, aged 35 and targeted by a European arrest warrant, was arrested on Monday in “at Brussels airport, leaving for the Ivory Coast”.

“He will have been just a shooting star in boxing, what a waste…”is moved the former manager of the French amateur boxing team John Dovi with the Parisian. Crowned Junior European Champion of -91 kg in 2019, Wilfried Florentin was one of those names that the informed public spots and to which he predicts a good course. According to the reference site “boxrec”, he subsequently won his first three professional fights by knockout. He should have played his fourth on May 28 in Créteil (Val-de-Marne).

But what happened? According to testimonies collected by the ParisianWilfried Florentin had been hired at this evening as a security guard. “He was a security guard who was called in as an extra for Saturday evening”, tells the newspaper Mevy Boufoudi, one of his coaches with Ousmane Condé at the Boxing Club Brévennes. A dispute – the outlines of which are yet to be determined – would have opposed the young champion to the suspect. The latter would be “came back two hours later to shoot him”testifies the coach.

“We all know the world of the night and its dangers”

Originally from Boissy-Saint-Léger and also father of two children (2 years and 6 months according to the Parisian), the boxer had been working at the Unusual for a few weeks. In January 2022, a fight broke out during a boxing gala which he attended as a spectator. Wilfried Florentin then hit a coach and was suspended by the French Boxing Federation. And therefore deprived of income.

“We are lucky to have won a little money, we have sponsors so we paid for it ourselves, raconte Mevy Boufoudi. Then, one day he came to see us saying: ‘I am a father, a man must work and not be assisted…’ We all know the world of the night and its dangers. So that scared us a bit…”. According to Parisian, a judicial investigation was opened by the Créteil prosecutor’s office. The suspect will be handed over to the French authorities shortly.