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The streamer Billy, also known under the nickname RebeuDeter, is organizing an English boxing event this Saturday, December 7 at the Paris La Defense Arena. A show called “DTR Fight” during which he will face GregMMA in the main event at the end of an evening punctuated by numerous activities. A few days before this great challenge, the 27-year-old content creator speaks exclusively to RMC Sport.
Billy, how do you feel a few days away from facing GregMMA in a boxing match, in the main event of your “DTR Fight” event at the Defense Arena?
I’m exhausted (smile). I thought I would arrive in better condition, but, to be completely honest, there were so many hassles and unforeseen events internally that it added a monumental workload. And we’re still going to work tirelessly until the big day. Between that, training, my lives and those on which I’m invited, it’s a lot of work. I am the heart of the project. I am connected to all the teams, whether for scenography, management, production, sets, fighters… I have my jacket pulled in all directions, but I also work with very talented people who make it a lot easier for me. It allowed me to be able to get to the end of all that.
How was your preparation?
I’ve been training for about eight months. I’ve had huge highs and huge lows. For the first three months, I started really strong with two workouts a day. It really helped me get back on my feet. I had never had such a physique, such abilities, in terms of cardio or technique. I relearned everything from scratch at BAM L’Héritage des Mureaux (in Yvelines), where I train. As a result, I was extremely successful when I started. Then I had bad news, things that affected me and I had a huge slump. It’s been a roller coaster. But I did my best to cope with all that and be able to arrive as fit as possible for the fight. From the beginning, I hoped not to disappoint people and live up to their expectations, but I knew what I was getting into. Boxing is a sport that is not foreign to me. I knew very well how hard and complicated it was going to be.
>> “I’m coming to turn off GregMMA”, find the interview given by Billy to RMC Sport last June during his preparation for the BAM L’Héritage des Mureaux
Do you feel like you have improved the quality of your boxing compared to your first amateur fights?
Ah but there is no photo. In fact, I completely killed the old Billy to create a new one with solid foundations. I had a lot of waste in my boxing. It was a boxing game from when I was 11. There were a lot of unnecessary movements I was making. I erased everything in my head, in memory reset mode. I’m performing better in the ring than I’ve ever been.
“I’m not coming just to save my skin or limit the damage”
At the start of preparation, you had the objective of reaching 90kg. What weight are you at heading into the fight?
It’s complicated because my base weight is around 73kg. I went as high as possible but I capped at 85kg. I won’t be able to reach 90kg. I even tried to gain fat, to eat more. Since I work out a lot, I was drying out a lot and burning more calories than I took in. I was just melting away, it was a vicious cycle. As a result, I gained weight but it made me feel enormously fatter. I feel like it’s not my body. It even changes the way you box. It’s much more calm on the moves, the blows are more forceful. It’s not the thing that suits me best, but we’ll make do.
There is also a significant size gap between you and GregMMA…
I’m 1.78m tall. Greg is about 1.93m, I think. It makes a huge difference. I trained based on that. I put on the gloves at Les Mureaux with guys of Greg’s size, who are fifteen years younger than him, with more passion and power in their fists. I told myself that if I took on these guys, I would take on Greg on the big day. Anyway, no one forced me to accept this challenge. I imposed this on myself. The goal is just for people to enjoy themselves, even if it doesn’t go well for me in the ring. It’s just to create entertainment and content around boxing.
You told us last June that your goal would be to extinguish GregMMA in the ring. Nothing has changed since then?
I always come to turn it off. That’s the goal. I’m not coming just to save my skin for three rounds and limit the damage. I’m really here to go all out, give it my all and see it fall. This is my only goal. I have an attack strategy that I worked on throughout my preparation with my coach and my physical trainer. But it will also depend on how Greg views it. If from the start he decides to give everything and crash into me, obviously I’m going to have to acclimatize to that. But I have an idea of how Greg will box at the start of the fight…
“I would have liked to do trash talk but GregMMA didn’t give me the opportunity”
Has GregMMA received instructions to take it easy on you at the start of the fight?
No, no, not at all. There are no instructions given to Greg. It’s a pure fight. It will do me more harm than anything else if he ever has instructions and doesn’t go all out. It will be seen. A bit like Tyson who saw some openings against Jake Paul and didn’t put in the hooks. We immediately saw the replays on social networks, how it turned out. This is exactly what I don’t want. I prefer to be turned off while being 100% authentic and real, than to script something and have it be noticed.
There hasn’t been a lot of trash talk between you and GregMMA since the fight was announced…
This is something I would have liked to do with Greg. But since I am also the organizer of the event, I had to adapt to him in relation to that. If he didn’t want trash talk and there had been some, he could have expressed his dissatisfaction to me as organizer. So I was quickly capped with Greg on the chambering because his mentality was really respect for the sport. It’s something I share, but I would have liked to do trash talk to amuse people. He didn’t give me the chance, unfortunately. It’s not basic in there. It’s not something he necessarily handles very well.
What is your relationship with GregMMA?
He’s someone I really appreciate. I got to know him at training camp, I had never met him before. I was able to discover someone very honest and sincere. He is very nice. But it’s been a while since we last saw each other, we don’t see each other in real life either.
A few days before the big night, do you feel the pressure building?
I feel it, but it’s a good pressure, which excites me, which gives me adrenaline and a smile. It’s not something I experience. For now, it’s just fun. I think I’ll feel more pressure on the big day, because it’s an event we’ve been preparing for for so long. There was more than a year and a half of preparation to ensure that everything went smoothly, in the largest venue in Europe.
Having grown up in Hauts-de-Seine, between Suresnes and Nanterre, you will fight at home at the Paris La Defense Arena…
I walked past it every day when I worked as a temp before becoming a streamer, I worked in the building next to the Defense Arena. So that makes me really weird. It is an immense pride for me to find myself in this place after all these years, as a fighter and organizer. It’s a crazy thing. Boxing at home is nothing but happiness. It’s a childhood dream, even for my father I think. When he arrived in France, he lived in the slums of Nanterre, he knows the area very well. It must be crazy for him to see his son put on such an event forty years later. There will be family in the room. My parents will be there, my little sister too, childhood friends and even some I haven’t seen for a very long time. It’s going to be very emotional.
Personalities will also be present in the stands…
There will be many professional fighters that I like: Nassourdine Imavov, William Gomis, Benoît Saint Denis, Bakary Samaké, Patrick Habirora, Bilel Jkitou. Victor Yoka, who was my first amateur opponent when I was young, will be there too. It was my priority that these guys could come and enjoy the event, during which there will be a lot of entertainment. It won’t just be a boxing evening. In terms of artists, there will be Soso Maness and Kekra, maybe SDM. I would like Gazo to come, I met his manager during a cryotherapy session, I invited them. There was supposed to be SCH, but he has a date that night, so he’ll be watching it from afar. There will also be a lot of content creators: Squeezie, IbraTV, Gotoga, McFly and Carlito… And then Amine, Kameto and Inoxtag, who will be in the live broadcast on my Twitch channel.
The event will be punctuated by numerous activities throughout the evening…
It’s a boxing event, but I made sure there was a lot of entertainment, both in the entrances and in the overall storytelling. We worked with a set designer. I tried to pull off something I’ve never seen before at a boxing gala. There will be a common thread throughout the evening, with a story, videos, guests and changing settings. It will be a unique spectacle.