Lizard tail”?
That’s what they called me as a kid.
A hyperactive child?
And quarrelsome: I was very upset!
What was wrong with him?
He was angry with the world.
Because?
My neighborhood was wild: get a life…! And my mother, severe with me.
You shouldn’t have been easy.
My younger brother was born with an illness, and I messed up more and more… My mother used to hit me with her shoe.
They didn’t give him his place.
My grandfather Gabriel did: he listened to me. And one fine day he took me to a boxing match. This changed my life.
In what sense?
Two gladiators! I saw there. Boxers became superheroes.
And his father, what was he doing?
Example of sacrifice: I worked behind the wheel during the week, and at the weekend, at the Palau d’Esports bar. I accompanied him… and watched those boxing matches.
Predestined!
I was Spanish boxing champion, it’s true. And Spanish full contact champion. And kickboxing.
violent sports
No, violence is something else.
What is violence?
Violence is conscious aggression (psychological, verbal or physical) with which someone forces the will of another.
And in boxing there are shared wills, I understand.
He saved me. Boxing balanced my emotions and gave me life goals: it ordered my life and gave me ethical values.
What values?
Discipline, responsibility, loyalty, solidarity, companionship, belonging. I stopped fighting in the street and in football.
Other soccer camps?
At the age of 18 I reached the Preferente as a Real Madrid footballer. But it was violent: the referees sent me off.
Well kicked out.
They clapped my hands and I danced flamenco.
And did the fights end up happening in the ring?
Eternal friendships arise there. A wafer colleague is one for life!
Colleagues of wafers…
One day a guy came to train: we didn’t talk, just wafers. He would be my best friend: David Gistau, the journalist.
He died of a stroke.
Nothing to do with boxing. I still cry about it – it was wonderful. I got to know him thoroughly because… you box as you are.
Is boxing dangerous or not?
Boxing is dangerous, and you will avoid the risks if you control everything, everything!: train and never lose concentration.
I’ve seen it in series and movies…
I choreographed fights with actors and ended up an actor. And I changed.
In what sense?
I was grumpy and shy, I grunted. The actor has to go deep into his emotions… and I had to take off my armor: I could finally say “I love you”.
Never said that before?
I used to assert myself through violence: as a child I bullied other children. A boy, years later, confessed to me that he almost committed suicide because of my violence.
That’s strong.
Yes. Let’s stop this! With my Fundació Jero García I help, through sport, the integration of socially excluded children, and I train athletes to detect violence and prevent it.
Children excluded?
Bully kids and bullied kids, and needy kids. Unfortunately, bullying continues to grow and grow…
How can we fight it?
With a school bullying law with sanctions: the bullying child, and even more so if it causes suicide, must be sentenced to a strong criminal penalty. And their parents, convicted of civil or criminal liability.
Stop for the end.
It is harder to continue as before.
Is there more violence today or in your neighborhood in the late 1970s?
Today! Parental violence (children attacking their parents) was something extraordinary years ago, when I recorded the program Hermano mayor … and today it is common, the daily bread!
What advice does he give to boxers?
You win the fight by not going to the disco. Don’t spare efforts. Control your emotions and your opponent’s. And it’s better to stop a minute earlier than a second later. As a trainer, I’d rather lose a fight than put a kid at risk.
Why did you quit boxing?
Every boxer is a punching bag that fills up. One fine day you feel that your sack is full… And then you have to retire.
