Faustino Reyes, the noble silver boxer beaten by life

Date:

Theodoraconfined to a wheelchair, sheltering from the sun under the shade of a square in Marchena (Seville) to talk about the boxing silver medal in Barcelona ’92 Faustino Reyes Lopez (Marchena, 04-04-1975), one of his seven children. “I am 68 years old, a girl is taking care of me because 12 years ago she gave me a stroke and half of my body was paralyzed. I live with a pension of 600 euros”, clarified Teodora López, who took a beautiful trip to the past to eclipse for a moment the memories of the misfortune that burned the family Reyes Lopez including Faustino, in prison since November serving a light sentence of two and a half years for failure to comply with a conviction for an alleged home invasion without violence.

“My husband died after an open heart operation 8 years ago and I also lost a child due to colon cancer. Good luck with my 9 grandchildren, they are taking away my sanity”, explained Teodora, resigned but whole, barefoot for two months after the Games because of a holy promise. And you can’t help but give up the feeling when talking about Barcelona and Faustino, that boy was of 17 years.

“Barcelona ’92? That is the greatest!” Teodora highlights with tearing her words. “I remember it as if I were living it, every day, every night. It is divine above all else King stuff in the locker room with him after the last fight. “Come in, come in and say hello to your son, he deserves it,” he told me. What a hug he gave Faustino. And he doesn’t mind getting stained with sweat. I hide the medal in a piece of furniture in the living room and I bring it out every now and then”, said Teodora, who was widening with great joy. And the youthful and innocent Faustino thought of nothing else but to give the most famous dress to a admired. “A volunteer asked him to give him something and he gave it to him underwear!”, said his mother in an anecdote that made him laugh.

Contacted MD through his mother, Faustino Reyes He was willing to give an interview to remember his milestone, but the obligatory and slow process through the prison to talk to him has not yet made it possible to contact him.

Punches that you give and punches that life gives, he is not far from crazy dichotomy who had caught many boxers Faustino, the humble and dignified serious young man with a stylish face and an angelic gaze who, instead of losing gold, won silver, caught every witness live and in person together. his self-confidence and charisma and he shook the poverty of his family with blows.

In passionate but sound and technical boxing in which his teacher and almost father encouraged him, Ferdinand Serrabecame the youngest Olympic medalist in the ring to fall in Badalona at the former Joventut pavilion in Feather weight (54 kg – 57 kg) to all who challenged him. British Brian Carr, Thai Somluck Kamsing -gold in Atlanta ’96 after removing Floyd Mayweather-, in Cuban Eddie Suarez and in Georgian Ramaz Paliani.

fiery but quite forgetful -and warning that, as tough as he is, he is still young-, Faustino fell into irretrievable carelessness before the final against the German. Andreas Tews. “He left his mouthguard and boots in the Olympic village,” his mother recalled. The Cuban man Juan Carlos Lemuswelterweight gold (63 – 66 kg), was kind enough to lend him his mouthguard, which he bathed in bleach, and also his boots When she put on those shoes, she was already dressed for defeat, she could no longer dance as elegantly and skillfully as she did in the ring to dance in boots. two sizes larger. But that beardless kid who’s going to have experience and can’t seem to stop looking at the medals takes one.

“The goal is to have experience in front of Atlanta ’96. Look where I can go and get a medal”, said Faustino, the youngest Spanish male Olympic medalist. It was up to his mother to fulfill her part of divine agreement. “I’m very religious and I vowed to walk barefoot. I did it for two months, Faustino convinced me to stop doing it”, recalls Teodora, proudly showing the love her son expresses for her. But there is that medal a dark opposite.

Faustino Reyes

Palmares

Silver JJ.OO. Barcelona ’92

Gold in the Boxam International Trophy ’93, ’94 and ’96

“He earned money (a million and a half pesetas) and gave him a car and many friends started hitting on him, he invited everyone. Such was his youth.” Theodora is sad. Faustino, who had been very formal and exemplary, allowed himself to be trapped by the evil passions of youth and began to approach the the drugs. The anarchic way of life disgusted and angered Ferdinand Serrathe coach, who appreciated more, loved Reyes by adopting him in his house in Almería with only 13 years to polish him, to make him a good student from an ugly one, a boxer who didn’t just hit, but also thought. “With Serra, it’s always awake”, emphasized his mother.

He left his usual coach and that break with Serra did not go well with Faustino, who despite going to train with the Spanish team and being champion of Spain in 1995 among other merits, It won’t be what it could be, forever away from repeating the resounding success of Barcelona ’92. Despite the pre-Olympic failure, Atlanta ’96 awaited him after the invitation from the IOC. But Arab Emirates He offered the organization a lot of money to hire a boxer, Reyes lost his spot and was told to stay at home. “A wrong life and leave Serra, my second father and half of my medal, a wrong decision.” He has admitted regret in several interviews since.

He was tricked by drugs but managed to tell them the truth and get them removed from a detox center. He started building a boxing school in Marchena But it didn’t work out and in recent years he has been selling in the market of his town. Now one of his ways of escaping from prison is his fists, but of the nobles.

“He hasn’t been boxing for a few years but now he’s training there in prison. Mr. Leiva (COE sports director) brought him a box with clothes”, explained Teodora. “The passport is on your desk. the pension which gives Barcelona medalists 70 million pesetas (420,000 euros) at the age of 50. He has a 26-year-old daughter in Germany, he wants to go to Almería and buy a flat there and also a car. Faustino always tells me that if something happens to him, the money is for me, but let’s see if when he collects it, he changes his life”, he says. Theodora Lopez about the other benefits of Faustino’s Barcelona silver, yesterday’s calamity, today’s pride, and tomorrow’s hope.

Boxing

Olympic medals from Spain

1

Enrique Rodríguez Cal – Bronze – Light flyweight (-48 kg) – Montreal ’76

two

Faustino Reyes – Silver – Featherweight (54 – 57 kg) – Barcelona ’92

3

Rafael Lozano – Bronze – Light flyweight (-48 kg) – Atlanta ’96

4

Rafael Lozano – Silver – Light flyweight (-48 kg) – Sydney ’00

Source: La Verdad

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related