Article by John Manenti
When it comes to Argentina in sporting terms, the first image that springs to mind is linked to team sports, first of all obviously footballgiven the three titles won in the 6 Finals played at the World Championships – to which are added the 15 successes in the Copa America – but also Basketball plays its part, having obtained the Gold Medal at the Athens 2004 Olympics and the world title in 1950 (plus two Finals lost in 2002 and 2019…)…
Olympic medal table to which Seleccion also contributes, with two consecutive successes (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008), as well as two silver medals in the Amsterdam 1928 and Atlanta 1996 editions, but the The discipline capable of placing itself at the top of this specific ranking is undoubtedly Boxing, which alone contributes a third with the 24 laurels won out of the 77 overall of the South American country, the same percentage for the 7 Golds compared to the total of 21 including the Tokyo 2020 edition.
Moreover, these successes are enclosed in a short period of Games History, i.e. between the Amsterdam 1928 and London 1948 editionsand then the circumstance of seeing an Argentine boxer climb the highest step of the podium no longer occurs, largely due to the intrusion, starting from the 1952 Helsinki Games, first of the exponents of Eastern Europe (Union Soviet in the first place …) and then of the very strong Cuban boxers …
Ad usher in this series of 7 statements (two in Amsterdam, as many in Los Angeles 1932, one in Berlin 1936 and two more in 1948 in London …), are the protagonists of our history today, who impose themselves in the two major categories of weight, namely the light heavyweights (limit of 79kg.) and Massimi, or the peers Victor Avendano and Arturo Rodriguez, as both born in 1907, June 5 the first and May 27 The second one.
Already four years earlier, at the 1924 Paris Games – edition that sees the first Gold Medal ever for the South American country, conquered by the Polo Team, then repeated in 1936 in Berlinthe last occasion in which this Discipline was included in the Olympic Program – the Argentine boxers do themselves honour, with Alfredo Copello silver in Lightweight and Hector Mendez to do the same in Welterweight, for a haul to which must be added the bronze medals of Pedro Quartucci in the Featherweights and of Alfredo Porzio among the Maximums …
To provide for “fill in the box” the aforementioned Avendano and Rodriguez think of the missing metal in 1928, in an edition of the Games that went down in history for Argentine Boxing which presents itself in the Dutch capital with its own representative registered in every single category scheduled, with only Flyweight Juan José Trillo to be eliminated in the first round.
They come vice versa defeated in the Quarterfinals by Carmelo Robledo among the Bantamweights and Pascual Bonfiglio among the Lightweightswhile the remaining four remaining in the race all overcome the obstacle of the semifinals, so that on August 11, 1928, in the ring set up at the “KtachSport buildingin AmsterdamArgentina sees for the first and only time in the history of the Games, four of its boxers fight for the Gold Medal …
With matches played in increasing order of weight, the first to show up between the four strings is 20-year-old Featherweight Victor Peralta, opposite home idol Bep van Klaverena favorite of the fans and undoubtedly one of the stars of the Olympic Tournament, who reaches the final act having defeated the American Harold Devine in the semifinals with a unanimous verdict, a circumstance that induces Peralta to implement a wait-and-see tactic to reply in the match, leading his opponent to the decision on points who, favoring the Dutchman, generates quite a few discontents in the Argentine clan, making it necessary for the police to intervene to calm things down.
The next to enter the ring is the just 19-year-old Welter Raul Landini, called to face the New Zealander, although English by birth, Ted Morgana boxer little known in Europe and who also presents himself at the Games with a impairment to his left hand suffered in a training match with English sparring partner Ernie Rice, which affects the use of the limbbut his technique and ability to dodge the opponent’s blows allows him to easily get the better of the Buenos Aires boxer …
Things are therefore not going well for the Argentine Federation, when it’s time to Avendano to fight against the German Ernst Pistulla with the Gold of the Light Heavyweight up for grabsan appointment which the 21-year-old from Buenos Aires arrives after having eliminated, always with a verdict on points, the Chilean Sergio Ojeda, the Canadian Donald Carrick and the South African Don McCorkindale, while Pistulla, one of the favorites of the eve, beats the difficult American champion Leon Lucas in the first round and therefore, after the success over the Irish William Murphy, he took the license to expel the Dutch Karel Milkon from the Tournamenton which many hopes on the part of its managers were based.
Particular is the case of the Argentine boxer, who risked not being able to take part in the Games as his status as a conscript prevented him from moving to Amsterdam, an obstacle overcome thanks to a special permit granted by the military authorities of his country and never was a more apt decision, given that Avendano is not impressed by the greater experience of the German and, with a courageous and always attacking match, he manages to have the preference of the Judges, so as to enter the History of Sport of his country as the first athlete to win the Gold Medal in this Discipline…
Galvanized by the success of his compatriot, it’s up to Rodriguez to conclude the day of the eight Finals, entering the ring afterwards having defeated the Irish Matt Flanagan by knockout in the previous rounds and then the other Dutch Sam Olij and the Danish Jakob Michaelsen on pointsso as to find himself facing the Swedish Ramm who, exempt from the first round due to the presence of only 10 boxers entered in the Heavyweight Category, had had the better, for his part, over the German Hans Schonrath and then in the semifinal over the Norwegian Sverre Sorsdal , in both cases to the points.
Called, therefore, to complete an Olympic Tournament that has no equal in the history of Argentine Boxing, Rodriguez – who had also taken part, just 17 years old, in the 1924 Paris Games, being defeated in the first round by the Danish Thyge Petersen on points – it takes less than 3′ to make the match his own, knocking down the much more experienced 25-year-old Scandinavian, so as to ensure Argentina a second Gold Medal in the space of just 30 minutes.
Reached the pinnacle of boxing career, upon returning to his homeland Rodriguez ends with Boxing, but not with sports, devoting himself to Rugby which had already seen him play four matches with the Argentine national team in the summer of 1927 against a British representative in Buenos Aires, to then complete their journey with the “Pumas” wearing the shirt on 8 occasions, six of which as Captain …
Undoubtedly, it was worth it”detach” from the oval ball to reach the “Olympic glory” …