BRAZIL: Boxing offers Rio��������s slum kids a way out of violence

Record ID: 1525740

  • Title: BRAZIL: Boxing offers Rio��������s slum kids a way out of violence
  • Date: 5th May 2011
  • Summary: VENTURA LEAVING HIS SISTER'S HOUSE AND GOING TO THE BOXING SCHOOL CLOSE OF VENTURA'S FEET WALKING THROUGH SLUM STREETS
  • Embargoed: 20th May 2011 06:26
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil, Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA59K4DPO4RM6SNNZQYHSE3YRKY
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: At least three times a week, Fabio da Conceicao Ventura climbs up the stairs to Chapeu Mangueira slum where he was born, but no longer to hold rifles and sell drugs like years ago.
    The 25-year-old former drug trafficker turned boxing teacher is one of the dozens of youngsters who overcame poverty and turned away from a life of crime. He is now a shining example for the children of the favela perched high above a hill across Rio de Janeiro's scenic Copacabana beach.
    Ventura teaches a Cuban boxing style at the "Favela Fight" school, where he first got in touch with the sport that made him swap guns for gloves after years of stealing and trafficking.
    He has recently moved with his wife, a samba school dancer, and their son to a middle-class neighborhood, where he also teaches at one of Rio's most prestigious boxing gyms.
    Ventura said the sport gave him new life perspectives and completely changed his personality.
    "A while ago I was a person who did not see the light in the end of the tunnel. Today I see that light, I see that it is very close to me. That star that was far away is still a little dimmed, but I know that one day it will shine for me. A while ago I was a very different person, very aggressive and people only looked for me to do bad things, especially to steal," he said.
    Ventura engaged early in crime, after his father abandoned him at the age of seven, following the suicide of his mother. During his teenage years, he fought cops, stole wallets, smuggled drugs and even was arrested once.
    However, "Favela Fight" put his life back on track and taught him how to live a crime-free lifestyle.
    Founded some 10 years ago by former Brazilian Muay Thai Champion Marcelo da Silva Carvalho, best known as "Penca", the school currently teaches boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu to some 70 kids as young as five.
    Penca began to fight when he was 13 years old with a former UFC champion, but an accident prevented him from continuing a professional career.
    Now, at the age of 46, he celebrates his success in steering away youths from crime and drug addiction at the school that is funded by donations and a sponsor.
    Penca said that children channeled their aggression through boxing, which required discipline and a lot of dedication.
    "When I teach boxing to the children they go crazy, they love it. It's something that all of them like -- the boys and especially the girls. It's a way for them to pour out, to release all that energy. If one of them is more violent, he or she even gets calmer. And besides teaching, I also demand discipline. They got to have discipline and good grades in school too," he said.
    Penca's work has got a little easier since the Chapeu Mangueira community was occupied by police in 2009. Officers drove out drug traffickers and installed a "Police Pacification Unit" (UPP) in the slum of some 6,000 residents.
    Even though violence is no longer a major concern for the boxing teachers, poverty still plagues the hillside community.
    Ventura said he wished to help all kids to ascend from the slum through jabs and uppercuts one day.
    "I hope that one day I can really make it and help to rescue all these friends of mine, all these children who are living in this poverty condition," he said.
    With Rio's 2016 Olympic Games looming in the horizon, many children dream of representing the country in the boxing rings.
    Penca said authorities should give more attention to social projects in slums to boost incentives for beginners.
    "If someone wants to be a boxer, there has to be opportunities for them. I think that what is lacking today, especially inside poor communities, is support from the government authorities, from the mayor's office. They should come here to take a look at the community's successful projects that are helping people and building citizens. Today, I have some five or six students who became citizens and who help me out," he said.
    In the country famous for soccer, fighting has been drawing more attention lately, with Brazilian fighters winning titles in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, including current middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva.
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