Boxing live streaming on Repubblica tonight. Picardi: “Me and those guys from Rione Sanità”. Zara: “I lost my job, the title will be the turning point”

‘Bronzeface’ is on the run. Vincenzo Picardi from Casoria, 39 years old, he spent several of them collecting prestigious results in amateurism. Specialist in third places in major tournaments (as many as 8, the most glorious at the Beijing Olympics and at the Chicago World Cup), hence the curious alias that has been added to the original one, the mastiff. “Clementi Russo gave me the nickname at the World Cup in Moscow. The home boxer had happened to me in the semifinals and I had lost, even if just for a while, another bronze and then…”.

‘Brazen Face’ will be one of the protagonists of the meeting live streaming that tonight Repubblica.it will broadcast from Mantua starting at 21.30: he will face Cristian Zara, the EU bantamweight title is up for grabs. Match preceded by an interesting Italian flyweight championship between Tomaso Melitto and Samir El Kadimi. It is a revenge between Picardi and Zara. The first match, in August last year in Stintino, was won on points by the first. “I beat him at his home, mentally I feel the edge. In the ring, the value of boxers is destined to emerge, and I consider myself head and shoulders above. That said, better to avoid predictions. In boxing, a blow is enough to change situations”.

Vincenzo Picardi, a family of boxers

Picardi comes from a family of boxers. His father Antonio was several times a challenger for the European title (“I owe my desire to turn professional mainly to him”). Once he even fought against his brother Giuseppe in an amateur championship: “Certain situations seem like they’re in a movie, but it really happened to me. Initially you don’t sink shots, but in the end you do the match. The result? I brought it home.”

Social commitment in the Rione Sanità

Picardi is a guy who is also very involved in social work: “I consider myself lucky, I do a job that springs from my passion. I’m a Fiamme Oro policeman, boxing instructor at Rione Sanità, in the youth section for social inclusion. They are good guys who sometimes make mistakes due to difficult previous situations, because they don’t have the alternative that boxing could offer them instead”. Chess lover: “A tactical, technical game where you need a fluid and fast mind, without anxiety. Some of the characteristics that you must have in the ring”. Among the champions of the past, the source of inspiration was Giovanni Parisi, and to those who ask him what gives him the impetus to go into boxing at 39 he explains: “Inside me there is still a lot of desire for revenge. I won a lot as an amateur, where with the national team I was able to travel the world and have many wonderful life experiences. I want to win something big even as a professional, I think the European title is within my reach”.

Zara: “A match to open many doors for me”

Antichamber for the European Championship, the EU title tonight. In front of him Cristian Zara, 25 years old from Sassari. He will enter the ring with two intentions. The first is to confirm the great tradition of Sardinian boxing. “My role model is Simone Malodrottu (former European and World Cup challenger, ed). A boxer who inspired me a lot for the way to be in the ring”. The second is to take revenge on Picardi: “The first match was confused, not linear. But this time it will be different, I’m very excited, I worked so hard to win a belt that could open many doors for me”. Zara does not hide: “I entered the gym almost for fun. I was 11 years old and I had to lose weight, but I still feel that emotion on me which then went on growing as I gained confidence in myself. It’s nice to have dreams, mine is getting to fight for a world championship, even if it’s clear that you have to proceed step by step”.

That employment contract not renewed

A love for boxing that allows him to bear many sacrifices: “In Italy it’s not like in other parts, it’s hard to live on boxing alone and I also have a little girl to support. I’m a carpenter, I worked in a company until October. I had a fixed-term contract and they didn’t renew it for me. But I’m not giving up.”