Happy Birthday, Eder Jofre! 80th Birthday Special: Part IV

Check the final part of the homage made for the best Brazilian boxer ever, who turns 80 years old today: Eder Jofre, the eternal "Golden Bantam". Part IV: The Return and the Acclaim The Return of a Champion Nine years. This was how long Eder dedicated to the professional noble art when he retired for the first time. The harsh training routine, the difficulty in making weight which had followed him throughout his career, the questionable losses to Harada, in fights that Eder swears to this day that he did not lose, the lack of support of the Brazilian people when he arrived at Sao Paulo after the second setback against the Japanese opponent influenced, some more and others less, the "Golden Bantam" to retire prematurely, with a little more than 30 years old. In the first months after he moved away from the sport that he dedicated most of his life to, Jofre split his time between his family and appearances on circus shows throughout Brazil, which were organized by his aunt Olga Zumbano. Olga, another member of the Zumbano family who shone in the Brazilian boxing world, came to be known as the "Queen of the Ring", and was a pioneer in the professional wrestling events in Brazil. The Brazilian boxing, despite the absence of its biggest idol, still had some good reasons to smile. In the 1968 Olympics, held in Mexico City, for instance, Servílio de Oliveira would be consecrated as the first national boxer to get an Olympic medal. Fighting in the flyweight division, Servílio got to the semifinals, but was defeated by the Mexican fighter Ricardo Delgado. The fighter from Sao Paulo, who came to be known as "Eder of Ebony" ("Eder de Ébano"), was the only Brazilian Olympic medalist until 2012, when Esquiva Falcão, Yamaguchi Falcão and Adriana Araújo came back from the London Olympics with medals around their necks. Regarding his personal life, Jofre and Cidinha would celebrate the arrival of their second child, this time a girl: Andrea would be born in August 1968. And it was inside his home where one of the motivations for Jofre's return to the rings emerged. Living in retirement, Eder was spending a great deal of his time at home. And, as the story goes, one day his oldest son Marcel asked: "Dad, don't you work?". Although he explained to his little son that he used to be the greatest idol Brazil had ever had in the boxing rings not long ago, that stirred Eder's instinct. And, in the beginning of 1969, Jofre decided to return to fighting. And it was not just that. This time he would fight as a featherweight, one division above. It was eight more pounds (or 3.7 kg) for Jofre to keep, without having to worry as much about the scale as when he was a bantamweight, getting rid of one of the nuisances brought by his career. Continue in the website: http://round13.com.br/?pg=conteudo&artigo=312