Esquiva Falcão loses boxing world title to Gualtieri – 7/1/2023 – Sport

Esquiva Falcão lost his duel with the German Vincenzo Gualtieri for the IBF (International Boxing Federation) middleweight title (up to 72.6 kg). In Wuppertal, Germany, he had problems with his opponent’s counterattacks and succumbed to points.

The judges’ decision was unanimous, after a fight in which the superiority of the home boxer ended up being clear. One of them scored 117 to 109 for Vincenzo. The other two had the score 116 to 110.

Silver at the 2012 Games in London, the 33-year-old capixaba was trying to become the first Brazilian to win a silver medal and be world champion. He had, as a professional, a record of 30 wins in 30 fights, 20 of them by knockout.

Facing Gualtieri, however, this Saturday (1st), he soon saw that the task was difficult. The Brazilian tried to punish the 30-year-old German with hard blows to the waistline, but exposed himself to counterattacks. One of them, in the second round, took him to the ground.

The fight had a moment of greater tension in the eighth round, when Esquiva went down, accusing a low blow from his rival. The referee opened the count before changing his mind, and Falcão returned to the fight with a vengeance.

At that point, given the pace of the fight, it seemed difficult to come back on points. Esquiva needed to get a knockout and again exposed himself, going to the canvas again in the tenth round. Tired, he did not find what he was looking for in the final part.

Thus, Vincenzo Gualtieri won the IBF middleweight belt, which had been vacant for over a year, when Gennady Golovkin, from Kazakhstan, relinquished it. The federation determined that Esquiva, first in the ranking, and the German, third, would compete for the vacant title.

It was the chance that the Brazilian had been waiting for after a period of great difficulty. In 2021, during one of the most critical phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, he started working as a motoboy in Espírito Santo, delivering pizzas that his wife prepared.

“Knock out your hunger”, said the ad on social networks, which drew attention and earned him a controversial sponsorship. He began to receive from the Havan store chain, from Luciano Hang, a notorious supporter of the now ex-president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

“When I signed with Havan, many doors opened, but many doors also closed. Some companies did not want to sponsor me because I had signed with a company that supported Bolsonaro. They took things to a side that has nothing to do with “, he stated.