Esquiva Falcão

At the age of 29, Esquiva is a four-year pro. A rising contender at 160 pounds, he is a former international amateur standout who won the middleweight silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.

He is the younger brother, by two years, of Yamaguchi Falcão, who won the light heavyweight bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games, and the son of Adegard Florenino – also known as “Touro Moreno” or “Black Bull” – a legendary former fighter who was a pioneer in introducing martial arts to Brazil.

Esquiva has stayed active in the ring and made good progress – he had six fights in 2014, six in 2015, four in 2016, three in 2017, and three in 2018. He gave impressive performances each time.

In his last fight on October 20 in Las Vegas, he won a 10-round unanimous decision against Guido Pitto.

Thesweetscience.com’s David A. Avila reported from ringside [excerpts]: Esquiva Falcao showcased his various boxing skills against Argentina’s Guido Pitto (25-6-2, 8 KOs), who lost by unanimous decision but forced the undefeated fighter into various situations.

In the first four rounds, Falcao fought from the outside with impunity as Pitto was unable to touch the Brazilian. But when the Argentine boxer took the fight inside, he found more success and forced Falcao to utilize his inside boxing skills.

The fighting was intense, but Falcao was just too strong and slightly quicker in winning every round in the 10 round middleweight fight. Pitto’s best moments came during the fifth round when he forced his way inside. All three judges saw it 100-90 for Falcao. [End Avila item]

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Esquiva was born and raised in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil…

He said through an interpreter, “I started boxing when I was 13 years old. I had 230 amateur fights, with a record of 215 wins and 15 losses.

“I’m naturally right-handed but fight as a southpaw. My father taught me to fight this way.

“I’m married. My wife’s name is Suelen Marques Nascimento, and we have two sons and one daughter – Erick Henrique, who is seven years old, Juan Falcão who is five, and Luisa, who is one.”…

From Folha de São Paulo, by Mariana Bastos [Oct. 8, 2011 – translated from Portuguese, excerpts]: “The first boxing bag they had was their mother’s chest. When they were in their mother’s lap, I would take their little hands and do ‘pow-pow’ in the womb,” said Touro Moreno, 75, by telephone to Folha. “I also put boxing gloves in the crib.”

A fighter in his youth, the veteran of the rings, whose name is Adegard Florentino, wanted to emphasize the fact that the children have been trained since they left the maternity ward to become boxers.

Among the boys he had in the second marriage, [two] are walking the path imagined by his father. With a name that refers directly to the universe of the fights, Esquiva Falcão [and] two years older, brother Yamaguchi….

“As a young man, I had a Japanese friend who was a judo teacher, he was murdered and at the same time my wife became pregnant, which is why I gave the name of Yamaguchi’s to my boy,” says Touro Moreno. [End Bastos item]

From Torcedores.com, by Matheus Adami [June 15, 2014 – translated from Portuguese, excerpts]: When Brazilian boxing got two medals at the London Olympics – silver with Esquiva and bronze with Yamaguchi Falcao – it is thanks to a 76-year-old man named Adegard Florentino, better known as “Touro Moreno.” On Father’s Day, Torcedores.com tells the story of one of the most famous parents in Brazilian sports.

Touro is the father of 18 children. From an early age, he encouraged his children to fight each other. He went hungry and lived in the street. In the meantime, he dreamed of having child champions.

“The only thing that could happen to them was my sport, which I always knew how to do. I met their mother when she worked in a bar. She was 15 years old, poor thing. Smaller still. I told her to quit her job and marry me to give me ten children. She gave me eleven. I chose her to be the mother of my fighters, to make these boys champions.

“I was very quarrelsome and bohemian. The boys set me up for life. I devoted myself to them. Yamaguchi and Esquiva are my crop in life.

“I’m illiterate. What I know is fighting. And now they have brought these medals to Brazil. It was not for nothing.”

Touro tells that Yamaguchi, the elder of the pair, was named in honor of a judo teacher, a close friend, who was murdered. Esquiva was named in this way “to learn how to dodge the blows of opponents. [note: Esquiva means “dodge” or “avoid” in Portuguese] The avoidance of a punch is a very important movement in boxing. When he was born, they said he looked like Mike Tyson,” he said.

They started training since they were young. In the family home, Touro improvised a ring with cement blocks. Instead of the punching bag, a very important and obligatory item in any boxing gym, the Falcão brothers had a banana tree. To strengthen the muscles, the dumbbells were made of concrete.

“The food was beans, rice, any kind of greenery,” explained the father.

And Touro Moreno himself gave an example of overcoming limits. A fighter in the old times, he had an important fight, a draw, against Waldemar Santana, a legendary fighter who defeated Hélio Gracie, one of the main developers of jiu-jitsu in Brazil in the 60s.

In May of 2014, at 76 years old, he fought in Vitoria, Espiritu Santo, against Fabrício Lopes Sales, who was 30 years old.

A knockout? No. Touro Moreno was better in the first round, but got tired and gave up at the start of the second round.

Not bad for those who starved and forged champions. [End Adami item]

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:

2012 OLYMPIC GAMES – London, England, 165 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 8-2-12 he won a 24-11 decision against Soltan Migitinov of Azerbaijan; in the quarterfinals on 8-6-12 he won a 14-10 decision against Zoltan Harcsa of Hungary; in the semifinals on 8-10-12 he won a 16-9 decision against Anthony Ogogo of Great Britain; in the finals on 8-11-12 he lost a 14-13 decision against Ryota Murata of Japan…

2012 BRAZILIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Aracaju, Brazil, 165 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 6-12-12 he stopped Willian Teixeira in the 3^rd round; in the quarterfinals on 6-14-12 he stopped Frank Rosado in the 3^rd round; in the semifinals on 6-15-12 he won a 20-18 decision against Pedro Lima; in the finals on 6-16-12 he won a 26-17 decision against David Lourenco da Costa…

2012 JOSE CHEO APONTE TOURNAMENT – Caguas, Puerto Rico, 165 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) he stopped Magdiel Cotto of Puerto Rico in the 3^rd round; in the semifinals on 6-2-12 he won a 15-6 decision against Junior Castillo of Dominican Republic; in the finals on 6-3-12 he won by walkover against David Lourenco da Costa of Brazil…

2011 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Baku, Azerbaijan, 165 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 10-1-11 he won a 25-9 decision against Mamadou Fall of Senegal; in his second fight on 10-3-11 he won a 15-9 decision against Rob Jankovski of Australia; in his third fight on 10-4-11 he won a 17-12 decision against Anthony Ogogo of England; in the quarterfinals on 10-5-11 he won a 13-10 decision against Donabek Suzhanov of Kazakhstan; in the semifinals on 10-7-11 he lost a 24-11 decision against Ryota Murata of Japan…

2011 COPA ROBERTO BALADO – Havana, Cuba, 165 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in the semifinals (his first fight) on 6-9-11 he stopped Raysell Poll of Cuba in the 2^nd round; in the semifinals on 6-11-11 he won a 28-9 decision against Eduardo Dinza of Cuba; in the finals on 6-12-11 he lost a 39-23 decision against Felix Mario Savon of Cuba…

2010 OLYMPIC CUP – San Juan, Puerto Rico, 152 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in the semifinals (his first fight) 15-20-10 he won a 5-1 decision against Keithland King of Virgin Islands; in the finals on 5-22-10 he lost a 6-0 decision against Oscar Molina of Mexico…

STRENGTHS: A left-hander with good skills and movement…has good punching power…had a strong amateur background…has a strong family athletic background…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 22 fights…104 total rounds…

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 4.7 rounds…

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 68 %…

DISTANCE FIGHTS: 10 rounds – 1 (1-0)…8 rounds – 3 (3-0)…