ESPYS honoree Kim Clavel took a break from boxing to fight coronavirus

If all had gone according to plan, Kim Clavel would have boxed in her first main event fight on March 21.

Scheduled for the Montreal Casino, the fight would have been her first after winning the North American Boxing Federation female light flyweight title in December. But then, with coronavirus, that fight was canceled.

Naturally, the 29-year-old Clavel was upset, she told ESPN. She spent days at her home in Montreal crying.

And then, a revelation: She was young. She was healthy. And she had experience as a nurse in a maternity ward before stopping last year to focus on boxing. She knew she could help.

Now, Clavel will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPY Awards on Sunday night. The award, named after the Arizona Cardinals player who left his NFL career to join the military after the 9/11 attacks, honors athletes who have served others like Tillman did, according to ESPN.

Tillman joined the US Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment and was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan in April 2004.

Clavel thanked the awards for the prize, saying she was “very honored.”

“Every decision that I make, every thing I do, I do it with my heart and with passion. Thank you!” she wrote in a tweet, originally in French.

Clavel has been working in long-term care facilities in Montreal, taking care of the elderly during the pandemic. It’s a serious position — in Canada, deaths among residents of long-term care facilities, retirement homes and assisted-living facilities make up 82% of all Covid-related deaths in the country, according to the International Long-Term Care Policy Network.

Clavel has seen her fair share of deaths, she told ESPN.

“You run, you run, you run. You don’t take a break because you can’t take a break. Then the morning comes, you’re exhausted, and you give it to the next one,” she said.

This doesn’t mean Clavel’s boxing career is over, though. Her trainer told ESPN she expects Clavel to come back to boxing full time. Clavel told CNN news partner CBC that she has continued doing hour-long workouts after her shift.

But even if we may not see Clavel in the boxing ring any time soon, here’s how you can watch her take home her award.

How to watch the ESPYS

The ESPY Awards, short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, will air Sunday evening at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN2.

With coronavirus, the award show will look different than it has in the past. The two-hour special typically celebrates the year in sports, but this year’s ceremony will highlight inspiring stories of service, perseverance and courage during the pandemic, the network said.

WNBA champion Sue Bird, two-time World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson will host the event.