Nacer Bouhanni has said that he wants to become a boxer after he retires from cycling.
Before Bouhanni became a professional cyclist, he used to be a fighter. Every year, he includes boxing as a part of his winter training program. Bouhanni has said that he might quit cycling some time before or after he becomes 32 years old and after that he expects to be able to do boxing for two years at least. He said that he will dedicate himself to the sport completely just like he did in his cycling career.
Bouhanni will ride for the French second division team Cofidis in the 2015 season. He rode for FDJ.fr team for four years after he started his professional cycling career.
Just like he does every year, in the middle of November this year he went to Nouzonville Boxing Club to train for four days. Hakim Chioui, the boxer who will try to win the European Middleweight title next year in the month of March was one of the sparring partners of Bouhanni. Chioui expressed his admiration for Bouhanni’s Boxing. He said that Bouhanni was present at all of his French Championships preparations. Chioui said that though Bouhanni is a sparring partner, he considers him as one of the members of his Boxing Club. Hamid Zaim the coach of Chioui, has said that if Bouhanni indeed becomes a professional Boxer, then he can become French Champion in Super Lightweight category. Bouhanni considers Boxing to be his passion but he considers Cycling as only an occupation for him.
Bouhanni said that he sparred not only for his entertainment; he considers sparring to be a very beneficial exercise for sprinters. He said that while sparring, the heart beat of an individual increases very rapidly which also happens to a cyclist during a sprint. He said that boxing not only strengthens his core muscles but it also psychologically trains him to release his aggression in the last part of a race.