Jean-François Bergeron

Jean-François Bergeron (born July 26, 1973, in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec) was a boxer from Canada, competing in the super heavyweight (> 91kg) division. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Amateur

He won the Canadian championship five time and won gold in 4 international championships, beating the likes of Paolo Vidoz and Michael Sproot.

Southpaw Bergeron won the silver medal at the 1995 Pan American Games. He competed in Atlanta at the Olympics but was knocked out by Attila Levin.

Bergeron wrapped up his amateur career with a record of 70 wins, 15 defeats.

Pro

Bergeron fought his first pro bout on April 3, 1998, at age 24. In 2001 he beat undefeated American amateur champ Willie Palms. In 2003 he beat Darroll Wilson (who holds a knockout win over Shannon Briggs). Bergeron was injured at the time and fought only with his right arm from the second round, but still managed to win the fight by a unanimous decision. In 2006 he bested Steve Panell (who had knocked down Wladimir Klitschko when they fought).

Fight against Valuev

Bergeron faced former WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev on Sept 29th in Germany. [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2973868] He lost by unanimous decision.

Outside the ring

Bergeron is often asked to take on the analyst role in boxing matches, appearing on local Québec channel TVA and Québec radio stations. He offered his expertise on radio on Lucian Bute's championship fight at the Bell Centre in Montréal on October 19, 2007. He also served as a sparring partner to Vitali Klitchko in preparation for his fight against Corrie Sanders for the WBC world heavyweight championship in April 2004.

He has also successfully completed his firefighter training and is currently working as a firefighter at the St-Jérôme fire station.

External links

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* [http://www.olympic.ca/EN/athletes/query/details2.php?id=38064 Canadian Olympic Committee]