Adjacent to the Paris ring road, the Jules-Ladoumègue sports center welcomes a "living legend" on this grey January morning. Modou Lô, undisputed champion of Senegalese wrestling, "King of the Arenas" of his country, is preparing for his next fight there, helped by the French boxer Souleymane Cissokho.

Along with a dozen other wrestlers from Senegal, where they are true stars, Modou Lô, a solid young man of 1.78 m for 120 kg, participates in Paris in a training camp organized by Cissokho.

"Many Senegalese wrestlers come to France for training camps, they want to get out of their daily routine, come to France and train," explains the French boxer, an Olympic medalist in Rio in 2016 and currently the official challenger for the WBC welterweight world title.

"Little by little, we became very close and we exchanged quite a lot. When I go to Senegal, I sometimes train with them and vice versa," he continued.

The day before, they trained against the French wrestling team, and for today's session, guided by Cissokho, they are focusing on English boxing.

"The session went well," Moudou Lô told AFP, still sweating from his workout. "In Senegal, wrestlers focus mainly on the wrestling aspect, whereas we're talking about wrestling with striking, so boxing is also very important."

- "Monumental" -

Alongside him in the ring, Ibrahim Ndiaye, a colossus with dyed blond hair, is also sharpening his skills for a fight scheduled for the spring. "We often travel to other countries to prepare. As we are professional wrestlers, it's good to discover other countries to see things there and improve our work," he says.

Senegalese wrestling, an ultra-popular traditional sport in this West African country, combines hand-to-hand combat and bare-handed strikes.

During the most important battles, life practically grinds to a halt in the streets of Dakar and elsewhere, and the big matches draw tens of thousands of spectators to the stadiums. Only the national football team, recent winners of the Africa Cup of Nations, can rival them.

"Wrestling is monumental in Senegal," confirms Souleymane Cissokho. "With Modou Lô, you can't walk ten meters (in the street) without being stopped. He's truly a living legend in Senegal."

In addition to the sporting dimension, the discipline incorporates a fairly important cultural and folkloric, even mystical, aspect.

Before grappling, some fighters follow a long and meticulous ritual, during which they coat their entire body with "magic liquid" and tie indispensable charms around their waist, wrists and biceps or ankles.

- "At the peak of his art" -

But Modou Lô is keen to demystify this part of his sport. "Mysticism is a cultural aspect of wrestling, it's part of the scenery, but the sport is based on training," recalls the man who started Senegalese wrestling at the age of 20.

"Everyone wants to be at the top of their game, which is why we always dreamed of becoming 'King of the Arena'," he explains. "We worked very hard, overcame many challenges, and it was only in 2018 that I reached this status, by the grace of God. Now, I have to work harder because I have more responsibilities."

On April 5th, with a loincloth tied around his waist, the 40-year-old wrestler will put his crown on the line against his challenger, Sa Thiès, in a major event at the National Arena of Senegal.

Looking ahead, Cissokho could see the king of the arenas trying his luck in the ring. "We've had Francis Ngannou fight in English boxing several times. Having Modou Lô fight in English boxing, I think that could be quite good. Especially if we organize it in Senegal, we'll fill 60,000 people very quickly."