Boxer Marco Verde Brings Home a Medal for Mexico

After eight years, boxing puts Mexico back on the podium of the Olympic Games, because, after the bronze obtained by Misael Rodríguez (75 kg) in Rio 2016, Marco Alonso Verde Álvarez harvests a medal for the national delegation in Paris 2024.

Verde Álvarez, Central Caribbean champion in San Salvador 2023 and Pan American champion in Santiago 2023, will return to the ring this Tuesday, August 6, to define the color of the medal, which he secured on August 3 after reaching the semifinal of the 71 kilogram category.

In the quarterfinals, the boxer dominated Nishat Dev of India, a result with which he achieved the fourth medal for Mexico in the French capital. If he falls in the semifinals, he will obtain the bronze, but if he reaches the final, he would be looking for gold.

“In a good tournament, I think that the strongest in the Olympic Games, because of the way he was given the key, is one of the strongest. He is coming off a defeat that he had previously, and he did it in an extraordinary way, and let's not talk about turning the score around, let's talk about all the fights,” said coach Abel Vargas.

“We have to wait for the semi-final, I'm sure that he will give another very strong fight like the first two and regardless of the way he won and being Mexican, we must recognize the quality of the human being and the athlete that we see,” he said.

Marco Verde's next challenge, which will take place at Ronald-Garros, is the Englishman Lewis Richardson, an opponent over whom he could have an advantage, said the coach.

“He will have a greater advantage because the Englishman is left-handed and things could be easier in a certain way in terms of rhythm, but each opponent is different and from what I could see he is an explosive boxer, but nothing that is not within Marco's reach,” he said.

The medal secured by Marco Verde in the 71 kilogram division in Paris 2024 means the 14th for Mexican Olympic boxing.