Guwahati: Brotherly love gives way to fierce rivalry the moment Indian boxing’s high performance director Santiago Nieva’s wards lock horns with their opponents from Argentina, coached by his elder sibling, Fabricio.
Their paths always crossed while boxing as they pursued the common goal of becoming Olympians. One made it but the other failed.
“When I fight I don’t think about our brotherhood. Inside the ring, I’m worried about my boxers. He is my brother outside the ring. There’s no brotherhood here,” Argentina head coach Fabricio told PTI, referring to his younger brother Santiago. Fabricio was furious when Santiago went two-up against him as Pawan Narwal recorded a 4-1 split decision over Argentine Youth Olympic gold medallist Brian Arregui Agustin in the 69kg category men’s section at the second edition of the Indian Open here.
“I must see the fight again. We thought we won but this is boxing. I don’t want to talk about it now,” a livid Fabricio said of the decision. “It’s normal, it happens in the heat of the moment. But at the end of the day we are brothers. There’s no better feeling at the end of the day,” the 44-year-old Santiago, who is younger by one year, said.
Thanks to the continental meet, the Nieva brothers could reunite for the first time after Christmas. Santiago went to the Argentina team hotel and spent time with his brother.
The brothers tried their hands at various sports ranging from football, table tennis, handball before they took up boxing and joined a club at the age of 14 or 15. The duo went on to represent their country and also turned up for Sweden as their mother Alicia settled in the European nation. “That time, if the federation agreed you could represent any nation. There was not much restrictions then,” Santiago recalled. It was during that time Santiago suffered a loss against his elder brother in the 54kg category at the Sweden Youth Championship in 1992.
“It was a good fight and entertainment for the spectators but they didn’t notice I landed some soft punches. We didn’t hit each other with full power,” Fabricio gave an insight to the fight that happened 27 years ago. (PTI)
