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Lisbon, Portugal – In the Antonio Ramalho Boxing Spirit gym in Outurela Social Housing, a suburb of Lisbon, 7pm is the peak time.
In the long dark corridor in the basement of the local sports center, you can already hear the swing of sandbags and the sound of gloves hitting them hard.
“The three of you go for a run with Wilson,” a commanding voice said.
“Welcome,” the same voice said.
This is the voice of coach Antonio Ramalho, who is also known as Mestre, the founder of the gym.
The timer on the wall beeps. It’s time to rest. Around the timer are photos of games, athletes and special moments.
In the gymnasium, people from all walks of life gathered-engineers, lawyers, architects, nurses, police, students, former prisoners.
“From the moment someone walks through that door, the only thing that matters is whether they have good character,” Ramalho said.
Ramalho opened his first gym in a small room on the roof of a restaurant in 1988 [Helena Lins/Al Jazeera]As the timer rang again, a group of young people began to practice Tai Chi. One of them is Wilson Semedo, who came to Portugal from Cape Verde in 2012 and was only 13 years old.
Semedo dropped out of school in 2016 and joined the gym. Although he stayed in Portugal for four years, he only talked about Kriolu and it was difficult to adapt to the new life.
“I’m not an easy kid. I have a bad temper. I hang out with friends who only do bad things,” Semedo said. “When I was 15, all I did was go out and drink.”
But he said that La Mario’s discipline and careful vision changed his life.
Ramalho said that everyone “abandoned him”.
“He is rude, wild, and has no goals in life… It was also difficult for me at the beginning. He told me that he wanted to compete, so I started to set some goals other than boxing: be more polite, go back to study or Go to work.”
Since boxing took up most of his time, Semedo quit his bad company and nightlife. He started training every morning and afternoon and got a part-time job.
Semedo dropped out of school in 2016 and joined the gym.Despite being in Portugal for four years, he only speaks of Kriolu and has difficulty adjusting to his new life [Helena Lins/Al Jazeera]After sweating heavily and practicing against older athletes in the gym, Wilson stepped into the ring. His outstanding performance in the Portuguese amateur competition attracted the attention of the Cape Verde Boxing Federation. Boxing brought him back to his home country to participate in the competition in 2018.
He represented his country in the 2019 African Games, but failed to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Semedo was not deterred and promised to move on.
“Boxing gave me everything. It helped me not to fight on the street and respect others,” he said.
“It feels like I was born for boxing. It gives me discipline, focus and focus.”
As his skills and dedication improved, Ramalho commissioned him to teach boxing to young people.
Kevin Sanches, also from Cape Verde, arrived a year after Semedo.
Both parents came to Portugal to look for work and a “better life”.
Inspired by boxing anime, 14-year-old Sanchez started training in the gym in 2018.
Coach Ramalho conducts key glove training for young boxer Sanchez [Helena Lins/Al Jazeera]“I’m not very good at school because I have no motivation,” Sanchez said.
“But I am very smart in boxing. I used to help newcomers after training and I realized that I was also evolving. So I started thinking about becoming a boxing coach or personal trainer.”
‘Prepare for adventure’
Sanchez continued to study physical education courses in high school, and when the internship time came, Ramalho invited him to teach children boxing.
After each training, Sanchez collects food for his family from a social organization that supports nearby families.
“My mother woke up at 4:30 in the morning. She has two jobs. My father works on a boat. I will not ask him to do anything unnecessary because he always complains about body pain. He bought some boxing materials, This way I can practice at home. He is happy that I finally focus on something and not my phone.”
The lives of the two young people have changed, all thanks to Ramalho, who was born and raised in a middle-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Lisbon.
He accidentally started training children. After 12 years as a professional boxer, he opened his first gym in a small room on top of a restaurant in 1988.
“On the first day, only the children showed up,” Ramalho said.
“None of them are old enough to box. The first child I trained had a T-shirt under his feet. He wasn’t even heavy enough for boxing.”
In the executive room, the walls, shelves and tables are covered with his athlete’s awards and medals [Helena Lins/Al Jazeera]He decided to work with what he had.
Twelve years later, at the 2000 European Junior Boxing Championships in Greece, two of the six young boxers representing Portugal came from his gym.
He said that in the next five years, these two, followed by the others, won “everything that will be won.”
An unknown club is writing a part of Portuguese boxing history.
“At the time, Portugal had a lot of clubs, but they didn’t compete abroad. I was a young coach, I wanted more and I was ready to take risks. I used to take my athletes to Spain to compete because I was from I started getting in touch when I became a boxer.”
‘Importance to the community’
Ramalho moved to the basement of the sports center in 2007 and lived in a room provided by the city government to thank him for his work.
As more and more people joined, the room became too small. Now, in addition to the outdoor training space used due to the coronavirus pandemic, he has four rooms.
“I introduced the new project to the company that manages the site, and they are very supportive of me and gave me more rooms because they understand the importance to the community,” he said.
In the executive room, awards and medals cover the walls, shelves and tables.
Last year, Ramalho was nominated by the World Boxing Council (WBC) for his social work as a sportsmanship ambassador for the National Sportsmanship Program and Human Heroes.
The learning center can accommodate 20 children and is equipped with 12 computers, internet connection, library and snack corner [Helena Lins/Al Jazeera]However, his most impressive achievement is the learning center.
The center opened in 2015 and has a computer, library and snack corner. Volunteers help children do homework and prepare for exams.
Ramalho has recently joined the European Union program Erasmus+ and has collaborated with two similar organizations in Romania and Italy to organize cultural exchanges and increase education and employment opportunities for his young athletes.
He now wants to open an art room.
“Over time, I realized that boxing is a powerful tool to attract these children, but it may not give them the continuity they hope. This is why we combine boxing with education and employment opportunities. We Our goal is to use sports, which is a powerful tool for shaping people, but we must also open the door to other things for them.”
Salvador Carrizosa (Salvador Carrizosa) was 11 years old when he switched from rugby to boxing, and he later realized that the latter “taught self-control, sacrifice and courage”.
“It’s not the kind of courage to challenge others, but face your own fears and difficulties.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ramalho has been hanging out a punching bag outside the gym [Helena Lins/Al Jazeera]He has just graduated from high school and wants to work in the stock market.
“This is a flexible job, so I can combine it with boxing. Even if I can’t play professional boxing, I will keep in touch with the gym.
“Whether you are a Mayweather or a newcomer, everyone is treated equally. The one who knows more will help the other. Others may do the same. This goes beyond the gym. This is what makes this place so special.” .
All trainees of Ramalho agree on two things: Boxing makes them less aggressive outside the ring, and Ramalho is like a second father.
“After my grandfather passed away, I started to get into boxing, he was like a father to me,” Carrizosa said.
“Mester continued the work he was doing and showed me how to be a dignified person. He helped me overcome my losses, get back on track and help my family. What I learned in my boxing family, I took Go home to my mother and sister. He is shaping my life.”
‘I have won’
Miriam Silva, who lives near the gym, started boxing at the age of eight, but then left to try other sports. But in 2018, she came back.
“I came back because I like the sport and I feel good here,” Silva said.
“I used to think that because I’m a girl, I won’t go as far as a boy. Many people outside the gym say that. But it’s not the case. Mestre gives me a lot of motivation. Sometimes he sits. Next to me, tell me I can do better. All the inspirational posts he shared on social media in the gym, he told me to put them in my mind and don’t forget.”
The 17-year-old Silva not only participates in boxing competitions, but also teaches young children boxing like Sémendo and Sanchez. And get an allowance to do this.
Silva is one of the girls training in the gym.Before deciding to participate in a boxing match, she tried many other sports [Helena Lins/Al Jazeera]Ramalho attributed his social and humanistic view of sports to the lack of coaching support when he was young.
“I started boxing at the age of 13. People my age were not even allowed to compete, but I was skilled, so I was thrown into the wolves. I could have grown up in a boxing match in different ways, but I missed it Coach’s support. He doesn’t talk to me much.
“Now, when I sit down with my boxers and talk to them, I hope someone can care about me as much as I care about these kids.”
As with any boxing club, getting boxers to compete and win is very important for the coach, but, he said, “Now, if I have a kid who likes to be here, trains hard and likes to help others, I have won. “
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