Olympic champion Robson Conceicao only wanted to be a street fighter

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Robson Conceicao represented Brazil in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, but lost both of his first fights in Beijing and London. The boxer didn’t give up, and it paid off. Conceicao made history on Tuesday night, beating Sofiane Oumiha from France to become the first Brazilian to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.

“I expected an easier fight, but he showed a lot of heart and technique,” Conceicao said after the win. “I congratulate him for that. It was the toughest fight of my life. I knew he had good counters, so my strategy was to get punched once and land three of four, and I was able to do that and get the gold medal.”

Three days before his daughter’s birthday, Conceicao was able to fulfill his biggest dream. “My daughter turns two years old on Friday,” he said, “and I promised her an Olympic medal.”

In his third Olympics, Conceicao sees himself as an inspiration for up and coming athletes.

“Never give up,” said the boxer. “If it was for a loss, I wouldn’t be here. I got beat up in my first 10 fights when I started in boxing. I lost to everybody, got beat up, but if I had given up I wouldn’t be an Olympic champion now.”

Conceicao is an Olympic gold medalist, and using his hands for notoriety was always his goal. However, the boxing ring was never a part of the equation until years after he started fighting other kids in his hometown of Salvador.

While most of the Brazilians at his age wanted to be soccer stars like Ronaldo or Rivaldo, the 13-year-old kid looked up to his uncle Roberto, known in Salvador as one of the bravest street fighters. Roberto used to pick fights in the streets during Carnival, and Conceicao wanted to be like him.

Conceicao would picks fights in the streets almost every day, and he decided to learn some techniques to improve his skills. One of his friends had a different approach to fighting and actually took boxing classes in a real gym, but Conceicao had no money to pay for the classes.

“I couldn’t afford to pay the gym fee,” he said, “so a friend of mine, Luiz Alberto, learned the techniques in the gym and taught me in his backyard. We used sandals as pads. I went to the hospital pretending that I hurt my arm. They would put some bandage, and I would remove it to use as hand wraps to train [laughs].”

With the assist of a social project in Salvador, Conceicao stopped fighting in the streets and saw boxing as a way of living.

“Thanks to the street fights, I’m an Olympic champion now,” he said. “It took a long time.”

Moments after leaving the ring with a gold medal in his chest, Conceicao heard compliments from former boxing world champion Acelino “Popo” Freitas, one of the best Brazilian to ever step a foot inside the ring. He hasn’t made an official decision yet, but turning professional seems like a matter of time.

“Being an Olympic champion and going after the belt,” Conceicao said of his boxing goals. “But I’ll get some rest now and wake up from this dream. I’ll talk to the Brazilian boxing federation, my coaches, and we’ll see what happens next. I think I made history today thanks to years of hard work and dedication. I’m really happy.”