Sinaloa is not only ‘El Chapo’, says medalist Marco Verde

In the word Sinaloa there is an echo that Marco Verde sends to drug trafficking, that stigma that Sinaloans carry on the map of public opinion. Every time the Mexican boxer answers about his place of origin, the name that takes over the minds of his rivals is that of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, leader of the main criminal organization in the state. “It happens to me not only in Mexico, but also abroad, in other countries. When they hear Sinaloa, the only thing they tell me is El Chapo“That’s how they know the state,” he says, holding the silver medal from the Olympic Games in his hands, the first of that color in the last 40 years.

This is so that people see that not everything is violence. Neither I nor my trainer (Radamés Hernández) knew that so much time had passed since the last time a Mexican achieved it in boxing and it was better, because we did not want to carry any pressure.. El Greenas he is nicknamed in the La Montuosa neighborhood in Mazatlán, is not unaware of the reach that organized crime has had in the north of the country, but like other great Sinaloa athletes, such as the legendary Julio César Chávez (born in Sonora, but raised in Culiacán), he believes that he can change that image through boxing.

This has had an impact on the whole country. What I need to do now is rest, recover from a small injury to my (right) hand that I have had for a while and then get back to training. Since I started boxing, at the age of 10, my father showed me a video of when he fought at the Barcelona Games. That was always my dream. As the years went by, I knew I could do it, that I was getting closer and closer to an Olympic medal. In boxing you always have to be thinking about what fight is next. I don’t know what’s coming in the future, for now I want to continue studying.he adds.

In the final against Uzbek Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev, Verde also redeemed a family history. His father Manuel only stepped into the Olympic ring once, in Barcelona 1992, where he was eliminated in the first round. Surrounded by hundreds of Mexicans at Roland Garros, the 23-year-old left-hander fought his battle. He kept to the long distance, without hard blows and in constant reverse, because he knew that his opponent would be as difficult as the pronunciation of his surname; he could not overcome the judges’ score.

Until then, the last national boxer to have won a silver medal at the Games was Héctor López, runner-up in Los Angeles 1984. Afterwards, only three bronzes were achieved in Seoul 1988, Sydney 2000 and Rio 2016. What many European and Asian countries have is that they gain experience every month and that is the part that we need to stand out more in amateur.“I was a little frustrated by the injury,” he says, his nose still crooked and a cut on his left eyebrow still healing. “I was a little frustrated by the injury. It wasn’t anything new, but I was like, ‘If I have to break my hand, I’m going to do it here. ’ The doctors did a great job.”

To continue studying

Trained since he was 10 by Hernández, Verde holds his medal for a moment as if it were a baseball, the sport that made him dream of the Major Leagues. His greatest quality on the fields of the port of Mazatlán was being left-handed. After entering a gym for the first time, everything began in his career, including his academic history at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, where he is currently studying for a degree in nutrition. If I’m sure of one thing, it’s that I want to continue studying.he says; Sometimes world titles cross my mind, but first I want to rest. An Olympic medal will never compare to a professional achievement, but the feeling is there..

Boxing has always been part of the Olympic programme since the 1904 Games in St. Louis, USA. For the 2028 edition of Los Angeles, the international committee has yet to decide whether to include it as a discipline, after stripping the International Boxing Association of its recognition last year for failing to implement governance and financial reforms.

We can’t wait until the end of next year.said IOC President Thomas Bach.

Given this possibility, the fighter from Sinaloa suspects that there will be an impact on the preparation of new generations.

“Whether or not they take boxing away will depend on what he decides (for his career). It hurts, because in Paris the stadiums were full and the people did not support just one boxer, but all of us who went up in the ranks.” ring.”