Brazil aims to box up medals

Brazil got one Olympic medal in boxing in 1968, three at the London 2012 Games and now the country's boxers hope to turn home advantage into gold.

To test the mood ahead of the first Games to allow professional boxers, AFP interviewed three Brazilian team members, all from the northeastern state of Bahia, which some compare to Latin America's boxing hub Cuba:

- Adriana Araujo, 34, a lightweight and Brazil's only female medalist (bronze) in 2012.

- Joedison Teixeira, known as Chocolate, 22, middleweight.

- Robenilson de Jesus, 28, bantamweight, a quarter-finalist in 2012.

- Medal chances? -

Araujo: "No one goes out hoping for a bronze or silver medal. We all want to be champion. The training is harder than the actual fight. We suffer to become champions."

Chocolate: "I was the first Brazilian champion in the 2013 World Boxing Championships and since then, expectations have been raised. Last year I won bronze at the Pan-American Games and at the end of 2015, I won the Olympic trials where you had high-ranked fighters, including several boxers who'd already qualified.

"I don't feel much pressure because these are my first Olympics and so I'm going to do my best with a decent chance of a medal on the horizon."

De Jesus: "I came close to a medal in London. I hope to get on that podium and to sing our national anthem in front of the home crowd."

- Bahia, 'Cuba of Brazil' -

Araujo: "Bahia is the Cuba of Brazil. People from there are born with their hips moving. They do that a lot in the dancing at Carnival time."

Chocolate: "Our state lives and breathes boxing. Some weekends after fights we use the gyms for club training and for small, school-age tournaments."

De Jesus: "Bahia is Brazil's boxing breeding ground. Every Olympics we have three or four boxers from Bahia qualifying. We're very serious about getting onto the national team." 

- Pros in Olympic boxing: 'Crazy' -

Araujo: "For the women, it doesn't change anything, but for the men, I think it's crazy. The professionals can't have adapted to Olympic boxing in the two months (since the decision was made)."

Chocolate: "The pros won't have any advantage. They are used to only getting warmed up in about the third or fourth round. In amateur boxing you don't have time for that. You get going more quickly. In three rounds it's over. I don't think a professional will become champion."

De Jesus: "The professionals won't succeed. It was a bad idea. It would have been good only if they'd been given time to adapt. For the 2020 Games, they'll be able to get ready, but not with only two months to prepare for these Games."

- Thinking of Muhammad Ali -
Araujo: "He was and always will be the icon of our sport and of world sport in general. It's sure we're missing him now, but I'm sure he's at peace."

Chocolate: "He had a significant impact on my life by overcoming prejudice. He lived in a time where this was very strong.... I've listened to what he said for a long time and his death hit me hard. I was very sad, I was in mourning."

De Jesus: "He's an icon of world boxing. His footwork inspired me a lot. Those who come to see me fight will see that I only fight sideways, using my hips. His style was to show his technical quality and his speed. That's what I loved and he will be with me in these Games."

Source: AFP