Born and raised in the Nova Holanda community, in Complexo da Maré, in Rio de Janeiro, Rebeca Lima became world boxing champion last month, in Liverpool, England.
On the way to the title in the under-60 kg category, she left behind the only two opponents who had defeated her in the current season. In the semifinals, she beat Kazakh Viktoriya Grafeyeva, who had beaten her in the final of the boxing World Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan, in July. In the decision, she passed the Polish Aneta Rygielska, who had defeated her in the first round of the World Cup stage in Foz do Iguaçu, in April.
According to the 25-year-old athlete, small adjustments during her preparation for the World Cup were fundamental.
“I knew it was a matter of making some adjustments, because none of the fights had been a ball for me. At some point I lost focus, and they knew how to take advantage of the opportunity, they performed better than I did at that moment. I knew that if I adjusted what I needed to adjust, I would be able to [vencê-las]”, said the boxer to Sheet.
These adjustments, according to her, were in technical aspects in the ring and also linked to mental preparation. The idea was to maintain concentration throughout the dispute.
“There are many triggers that happen during combat. There were not only technical and tactical issues at the time, but also psychological issues to guide this technical and tactician. At some point, something distracted me [nas lutas anteriores]. We tried to repeat the same situation during training to see if this trigger appeared again, to try to deal with it in another way”, explained the boxer.
She stated that even breathing during the fight can be a decisive factor in deciding who will have their hand raised by the judge at the end of the fight.
“When you are breathing well, oxygenating all the tissues in your body, your brain is receiving the minimum amount necessary for you to think clearly during combat. So, during training, the adjustment is this: ‘Calm down, breathe, start the game and think to do it better, to see the right moment to take advantage of the opportunity’.”
The first Brazilian to reach the podium at the youth World Championship in the sport, in 2018, when she won bronze, in Hungary, Rebeca stated that winning the adult World Championship, seven years later, did not surprise her.
“I worked for this and I left Brazil with the truth that I would get there,” he said. “We worked hard. No achievement was out of the blue, no achievement was a surprise to anyone.”
She added that as soon as the final duel in Liverpool ended, she had a mental conversation with herself. “You know when you give someone a warning, and what you said happens? Then you say: ‘Didn’t I tell you?’. That was it, I said to myself: ‘I’m glad you believed, because I told you it would work’.”
The plan now is to remain in amateur boxing for the next few years and debut at the Olympic Games, in 2028, in Los Angeles. “Everything we do today is thinking about there, in Los Angeles,” said the boxer.
Fighting in the same category as Olympic medalist and world champion Beatriz Ferreira (featherweight, up to 60 kg), Rebeca stated that she felt flattered by the comparisons between the two, but highlighted that their trajectories to the titles are quite different.
“I think it’s incredible that they compare our characteristics, but I think it’s wrong to compare our stories”, said the boxer, who started the sport at the age of seven through the social project Luta pela Paz, in Maré.
She also said that she maintains a partnership relationship with Beatriz Ferreira, with constant training and conversations to improve aspects of the fight.
Rebeca participated in the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee) program “Olympic Experience”, traveling to Paris last year to train and spend time with the athletes who competed in the Games in the French capital.
“One story enhances the other, but none are the same. We have similar characteristics, but we are very different. We are almost the same height, but Bia has a wingspan that is double mine. So, they are different ways and styles of boxing”, said the Rio native.
