Renowned trainer Marc Ramsay has been a staple of the Canadian wrestling scene for almost 20 years. During that time he has trained five world champions and is currently the head trainer for current IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
Ramsay was born in the northern Quebec town of Noranda on April 24, 1972.
In his youth, Ramsay enjoyed playing his country’s favorite pastime, ice hockey, before the super fight between Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard turned his head in April 1987.
“I had seen the ads in the papers and everyone was talking about this big fight,” Ramsay told The Ring. “It was the first time I took the time to watch a boxing match.
“After the Leonard-Hagler fight, I showed up at a boxing gym to prepare physically for the ice hockey season. “I never played hockey again and started boxing as an amateur.”
Although Ramsay only had 15 amateur contests, he had found his calling.
Marc Ramsay (left) working with the gloves – Photo by Vincent Ethier
“I started helping my coach in the corner and at 18 I was already a coach,” he said. “I quickly understood that it was my place. “Then I formed my own team.”
It took time and a lot of learning, but over the next decade Ramsay progressed and became Canada’s national amateur coach in 2000. He held the position until after the 2004 Athens Olympics.
“This is one of the most important steps in my coaching career,” he said. “I believe a lot in amateur boxing as a school for boxers but also for coaches. I was able to live my own experience and create a network of contacts that is still very important today.”
During this time, he worked especially with Jean Pascal and Antonin Décarie.
“We all took our first steps together into professional boxing in early 2005,” Ramsay said.
Pascal won his first 21 fights before losing his first world title attempt to WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch in Nottingham, England in December 2008.
“It was our first opportunity to win a title against a top-level rival and in a very special environment where the passion of the English fans is known,” he recalled. “From the first round it was a war… halfway through the fight Carl Froch started boxing and won the second part of the fight to deserve the victory. “It was a pretty good show for the people there.”
Pascal didn’t have to wait long for a second world title shot and became Ramsay’s first world champion when he claimed the WBC light heavyweight title by beating Adrian Diaconu at the Bell Center in Montreal.
“We received an offer to fight Diaconu immediately after the Froch fight,” he said. “It was an excellent moment. Jean was having more and more trouble making the weight of 168 pounds and it was a fight between two boxers from Montreal, so there was a lot of interest in this fight in Canada.
“With the experience of the fight with Froch we were able to control Jean’s emotions and make a more disciplined fight to win the world title.”
Since then, Ramsay has helped four other wrestlers obtain championship belts. Pascal was followed by David Lemieux, who took the IBF middleweight title in 2015. Artur Beterbiev is the current IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight champion. Eleider Álvarez upset Sergey Kovalev for the WBO light heavyweight championship in 2018. More recently, Oscar Rivas became the inaugural WBC bridgeweight champion in 2021 before vacating the belt (not recognized by The Ring) due to an injury.
Ramsay also trains the likes of heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov, super middleweight contenders Christian Mbilli and Erik Bazinyan, and is also the director of development and boxing consultant for Eye of The Tiger.
Marc Ramsay – Photo by Vincent Ethier
“The goal of every boxer I interact with is to become a world champion,” he said. “Of course, not everyone becomes world champion, but that is still our goal.”
Ramsay, now 51, is married with three children and lives in Montreal.
He graciously took the time to speak with The Ring about the best fighters he trained in ten key categories.
BEST SOAP
Eleider Álvarez: “Long and very explosive jab, exceptional timing.”
BEST DEFENSE
Antonin Décarie: “Antonin had a firm defense and was very good at breaking the distance between himself and his opponent, but above all his transition between offensive and defensive work was very effective. He had great defense.”
BEST HAND SPEED
Jean Pascal: “At the peak of his career, Jean Pascal had the fastest and most explosive hands in his division. Several have tried to mix with him without success.”
BEST FOOT JOB
Pascal: “When Jean was at his best, his footwork was simply superior. Jean won his first world championship with a strategy based on his movements. When he handed Chad Dawson a first loss, the strategy was based on movement.”
SMARTEST
Artur Beterbiev: “Artur’s understanding of his opponents when we watch the video is on another level. He’s a guy who never watches boxing, but when he studies an opponent or when he watches his own sparring his analysis is excellent. Christian Mbilli has the ability to take new information on the fly and apply it on fight night, you can give him many different directions in a fight and he will change just like that. I would choose Artur, he is a fighter under pressure, but he is much more than that, his ring IQ is superior and that is why polite pressure has helped him beat people like Oleksandr Gvozdyk.”
STRONGER
Beterbiev: “You have to see him train every day to understand where that strength comes from. I think there are several factors. First is genetics and technique, but above all a series of physical exercises that Artur has been practicing for a long time. He is number one in the entire industry in this department.”
BEST PUNCHER
Beterbiev: “All of Artur’s punches sound powerful and he doesn’t need space to generate energy. Lemieux’s left hook was very explosive. One mistake and the opponent will wake up in the locker room. Of the two, I would choose Artur.”
BEST BEARD
Oscar Rivas: “Oscar Rivas is only 6 feet tall and weighed an average of 225 pounds throughout his amateur career that took him to the Olympics and his professional career where he fought as a heavyweight. He can’t have a career like his without having a chin made of cement. He never fell.”
BETTER BOXING SKILLS
Beterbiev: “When I look at it globally, Artur can do everything in a ring and apply almost any strategy.”
BEST OVERALL
Beterbiev: “He is the most complete boxer I have had the opportunity to train.”
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected].
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