Today, Bermane Stiverne is a role model in his native Haiti, as well as in his second home, Quebec, where he trained for many years as an amateur and professional, in addition to fighting in Montreal twice as a pro.
Stiverne makes the first defense of his WBC heavyweight title, which he captured last May with a sixth-round technical knockout of dangerous Chris Arreola (35-4), this Saturday night (Jan. 17) against undefeated, mandatory challenger Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs), airing live on Showtime Championship Boxing (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) from MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Born in Haiti as the youngest boy and 11th of 13 children, “B. Ware” moved with his family at the age of 10 to Miami, where, ironically, he was bullied at school. He resettled in Montreal, Quebec, often going back and forth between there and Miami, before moving to Las Vegas in 2004.
“I’ve lived here in the United States since 1988,” Stiverne said. “My parents moved to Miami and then back and forth between Miami and Montreal. After school, when I was older, I moved to Las Vegas to pursue my boxing career.
“I represent the country I was born in, Haiti, and then Quebec, but I also love the United States. But, first, I’m from Haiti and I want to give hope to those Haitians who don’t have a lot. I want to inspire people there by letting them know it doesn’t matter where you are born, that dreams can come true like it has for me. There aren’t a lot of opportunities there and I hope Haitians pursue their dreams like I did.”
