“The risk is there, but I can’t see the Los Angeles Games without boxing”

What does the Royal Spanish Boxing Federation mean to have three references like Enmanuel Reyes Pla, Ayoub Ghadfa or José Quiles?

Here are three (the three fighters were also with the president on the visit to MD) but there are many more. We have a great national team, we have been saying this for years. They have overcome every challenge they have set themselves and we have succeeded in the entire history of Spanish boxing, which has been overcome in these eight years, in the European Championships or the World Championships. All the results that have had in the whole history together have been surpassed in two cycles and they and those who came from the back are already pushing, like Rafa Lozano and Oier Ibarretxe, who will be the promises of the future and will be the next ones to get medals.

Some victories that the federation itself and Spanish boxing should take advantage of.

Yes, of course, all this is the pull that gives us, the results and above all the recognition of our work. The Higher Sports Council sees that with a little we can achieve a lot and with a little more we can clearly achieve and stay at the top of world boxing, which we are interested in.

What is clear is that more and more Spanish boxing, novice or not, arouses more interest, and the proof is in the number of licenses that continues to grow, with a special emphasis on women’s licenses.

That is, programs like Universo Mujer, which support women, have also been very good for us to insert part of all resources into these projects and therefore we have achieved the first female boxer at the Olympic Games (Laura Fuertes ), and now it’s time to continue working to have more of a following. Programs like the above and many other aspects make boxing fashionable and as I always say, it is not a passing fad. We have come to be at the top and stay there as a sport that anyone can practice.

And to achieve these goals you need to have good resources.

You are never happy with the resources you have. I have many projects without work that affect the base, in the social sphere, sports projects that will allow many people to practice boxing and above all what we do, we do it with the four of us leaving our life in the federation, working, and apparently it will come to an end and the bodies will say enough. We need a structure to handle things better because sometimes things don’t work as we want them to and it’s because of a lack of resources.

If you could and you had the budget for it, what actions would you take?

Above all, it will strengthen the national teams. Here, the national coach pours his life into his work and it lasts. Above all, the structuring of the teams, because in the end he will attend to the teams in the lower category, to the youth, we do not individualize the work of each of the athletes. A lot of structure is missing in sports and in the management section.

Do you think boxing will be included in the program of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games?

This is an excellent question. I’d like to think 95% yes. The danger is there, but I can’t see the Los Angeles Games without boxing. Let’s see what happens in these months. Between the elections of the International Olympic Committee and we have deadlines set within the federation to make our movements, but in the end it does not depend on a federation. We are talking about it being the decision of the IOC and we have a federation with almost 200 countries and another with 40.

Are there reasons to justify the attitude of the IOC?

I don’t want to get into some wars, but I was on the executive of the IBA world, now I’m not there, but in the time I was there we did incredible things for boxing. This is when we look for that recognition and even if it is not enough, what I see is that all the work done is not considered and other things outside of just sporting are considered.

It is clear that the federation must take advantage of the loudspeaker generated before, during and after the Games, but the activity does not stop.

How will we spend these four years if there is no activity. Many people have asked me how I am going to leave the only organization that provides activity to our boxers to get them in good sporting health at the Games. Now we have to study all the situations and between now and the end of the year we will make decisions.

What can’t go wrong in the new Olympic cycle?

Continue to provide athletes with all the means activities, the human and material resources they need and the rest they have. Obviously they have the best coaches. If we can strengthen that better, but let them not lack activity, which is what puts them in the shape they got in the Olympic Games, where any of them can win a medal.

How many boxers work under the umbrella of the federation?

Right now in Madrid there are about 30 people. This is something that has never happened before. We have a starting team, number 1, but we have two and three in each category and at any time they are ready to replace it and be up to the task. This is something that has not been achieved and it is because we give it an injection, especially in influencing that, so that when a cycle of some athletes ends, the next one is ready to perform at the highest level.

We discussed that everything has a beginning and an end. How does the federation protect boxers from the day they decide to take off their gloves and step out into the ring?

The federation is thinking about the future of boxers. We have trained them, almost all of them have the title of national boxing coach, they took three courses to become a national coach, and now the official qualifications are being given training to everyone who meets those requirements until our knowledge. . Then, we also support university studies with scholarships for those who decide to go to university. But at least we give them training so that at least they can earn money in boxing.

And you’ve also been flexible enough to allow fighters to box professionally if they want to.

Of course. This possibility has arisen and I see it well. We always try to accommodate ourselves so that they can also earn their bread in professional boxing. The scholarship is good, but anything extra doesn’t hurt, and so they rank slower. When they leave Olympic boxing, they are already at a level in the table where they want good fights. Unlike in the past when they stop it’s like starting from scratch and you have to add match after match to rank up and get big purses, it’s not, it’s not happening now.