Francisco Bebu Verón had just stepped out of the ring in Las Vegas. He had lost one of the toughest fights of his career, and his body was still carrying the toll of that fight.
But he didn’t go to rest: he got down on one knee right there, beneath the ring, in front of Chuly Gómez. Their story didn’t begin in an elite gym or at a boxing gala.
It began at a community dining center called ‘Los Chulitos,’ which Chuly set up in her neighborhood during the pandemic to help families who had nothing to eat.
There was never any political support; it all came from social media and the people. When the gyms closed, she started training at Bebu’s house, with whom she already shared friends and lived just a few blocks away.
From that to Las Vegas, from the neighborhood to T-Mobile Arena. He lost the fight, but won the only fight he really wanted to win that night.