About to turn 74, Servilio de Oliveira is still fighting. The first Olympic medalist in Brazilian boxing, he doesn’t have much patience to discuss the reasons that led the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to exclude the sport from the Olympic program from the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
For the boxer who won bronze at the 1968 Mexico Games, it’s about racism.
“By taking boxing away, the IOC punishes the athlete. And those who practice the sport are the less favored and black people. It’s structural racism”, says the former athlete to sheet.
The decision came months after Brazil had achieved its best result in the competition’s history. In the men’s, he won a gold medal (Hebert Conceição) and a bronze medal (Abner Teixiera). In the women’s, it was silver with Beatriz Ferreira.
The measure is not final, and the IBA (International Boxing Association) may appeal.
“I hope this changes, you have until 2023 to file the appeal”, adds Servilio.
For 34 years, he was the country’s only medalist in the sport. That only changed in 2012, when Esquiva Falcão took silver and Yamaguchi Falcão and Adriana Araújo took bronze in London.
One of the reasons for boxing’s initial withdrawal from the Olympic program was allegations of irregularities at the IBA.
“If the IBA did a fraud, it has to punish the entity, not the sport. For me, this is a tremendous gaffe by the IOC. It is a millenary sport [na história das Olimpíadas]”, defends Servilio.
But this is not his only current battle. He also fights with the Palmares Foundation, which in 2020 withdrew his name from the list of honorees of the entity created to combat racism and value the achievements of black Brazilians. The body, linked to the federal government, defined that only dead people could be commemorated.
In May of last year, Servilio obtained a favorable decision so that he was replaced among the honorees and received compensation of R$ 10,000. The entity appealed.
“It’s frustrating. I’m disappointed. A black man, like me, at the service of the system,” he lamented, referring to Sérgio Camargo, president of the foundation.
This Saturday (19), Servílio de Oliveira will be one of the athletes taken to the Brazilian sports hall of fame, created by the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee), during the entity’s congress, in Salvador.
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