In the temple of sumo, the
Kokukigan Arena
, an irrepressible guy levitates.
Despite the cut on his left eyelid, Enmanuel Reyes Pla challenges whoever gets ahead of him.
"Now we have July left. To rip off his head. It doesn't matter if he is from Cuba or not from Cuba. We are going for everything. I came for my gold and whoever stands on top of the ring will fall," he proclaims, with the self-assurance of someone who has just knocked down a giant.
Seconds before, the Prophet, with a dazzling combination, knocked out
Vassiliy Levit
in the second round, a burly Kazakh who boasted of being silver in the past Rio Games. It happened like
Foreman
, who claimed that he never had the opportunity to talk too much in the ring: "By the time I start to meet a guy, it's all over." "It was a very technical fight. I went out to look for my fight, to put my rhythm. He cut me off, but I did not give it importance. Here we came to fight. Then I made a good connection, there the man fell and we went to finish him off," he describes without major boasting.
Norman Mailer wrote that "boxing offers a profession to men who might otherwise commit murder on the streets."
But in Cuba, it is much more than an outlet for criminals.
It is also a way to escape poverty.
And even a culture.
Reyes Pla was one of those promises of the best school in the world since he started at the age of six in his
native Havana
.
But he found all the roads closed.
"He was second best and that's a problem," says a member of the Caribbean delegation, amazed by the deployment of his once-compatriot.
"My country is Spain"
Because the Prophet, as they call him, is now fighting for another flag. He gave up his life to come to Spain to reunite with his family. "Now my country is Spain and I want to give victory to Spain. It has given me everything. We are going to go out with everything to defend the flag of Spain," he assures when asked about the motivation for his fight on Friday in the quarterfinals. against
Julio César la Cruz
, the 'Sombra', Olympic champion at -81 kilos in Rio, a fighter with
Tyson make
and
Mayweather
manners
: dancing off guard has made his Kenyan rival dizzy a while before. Only that shock separates Enmanuel from a medal.
But Reyes Pla is not afraid of him, because he knows him well. "He lost in his day, but he was quite even. La Cruz has gone up to the heavyweight category and he will not be that fast. Reyes is a born heavyweight. He will beat him in speed and he comes with everything, with a lot of desire and a lot of hunger It motivates him that he is Cuban, because there they were holding him back, "explains
Rafa Lozano
, the coach who came across a diamond a few years ago who wanted to make the leap to professionalism. "I spoke with his father and we convinced him to join the national team," he admits.
Even though Enmanuel didn't even have the nationality yet.
His adventures to escape from Cuba were one of those that give for the script of a movie.
At the claim of his family, based in La Coruña, and with the blockade that competition with
Erislandy Savón
supposed to his boxing career
, bronze in Rio 2016, he began a trip with an uncertain destination in 2016. Reyes Pla, who became national runner-up on the island, he ran into a good bureaucratic stumbling block in Moscow first to be able to join the European Union.
Fearing the consequences, of being arrested for not having the papers in order, he spent four months locked up in an apartment with his cousin.
"I respect the Cuban people"
When he got out, he still had several way stations left, none of them simple.
He traveled to Austria, where he applied for political asylum and spent two months in a refugee center.
Later, on the way to Spain, he was arrested in Germany while trying to cross the border with France.
The German authorities sent him to a detention center for migrants, where he spent time before being sent back to Austria.
Finally he decided to take a risk and take a direct flight to Barcelona.
He was finally able to reunite with his family in the summer of 2017.
"Months jumping across borders"
, taking the blows of life, watching his promising career go by.
UESLEI MARCELINOREUTERS
"Everything was a sacrifice we made, this way to get here. Every now and then I say, 'Damn, this sacrifice was worth it'", he now admits in the bowels of the Kokugikan, where there is still time to reflect on the riots in his country natal has. "
The situation in Cuba is a bit screwed up
. I hope the Cuban people continue to move forward, claiming their rights. As they say: 'Homeland and life'. Even though I am abroad and I am Spanish now. I denied my Cuban nationality. But to the Cuban people I respect it because it is my blood. Let them continue fighting and take their freedom, "he launches.
Once in Galicia, after Balita did not let him escape, in January 2020 he received nationality.
Last June, he finally got his ticket to Tokyo in a Pre-Olympic in which he only lost in the final.
After the fierce draw for the Games, he was not daunted.
"They say that I am on the most difficult side of the table but for me it is the best because the others are not a danger for me, I am the danger," he said in the previous one, which Ali.
Because the Prophet, like all the greats, does not bite his tongue: "The work with coach Rafa and
Carlos Peñate
is being fulfilled. We came to look for the gold and rival to put us in front of the rival that we are going to sweep."
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