Every parent wants the best for their children. That’s the opinion of Yecson Preciado, a former boxer with more than two decades of experience in the field, who tries to earn money every day to feed his four children.

However, his fights did not start in the ring, but he experienced them on the street at the age of 12 when he left home. His father beat him and he decided to run away.

“My dad beat me a lot when I was little and that’s when I decided to leave home. I don’t like it when children are bullied.“, says Preciado, who has experienced the bitter and dangerous nature of dawn and dusk on the sidewalks.

Fortunately, it didn’t last long, the family took him in and raised him. He told them he wanted to be a boxer. and they supported him. That’s how Preciado started in this profession.

“My son and I survive with the little savings I have left,” says a woman who has been unemployed for six months, part of the 500,000 birth certificates in 2023.

He then put on gloves, mouthguards and headgear and with each blow he took out the abuse he received. Over the years his name became more famous and he was nicknamed The Destroyer Appreciated.

In adulthood, he went from the ring to becoming a trainer. He worked in the Ministry of Sports in the government of Rafael Correa, and when that administration ended, his work stopped as well.

Yecson Preciado with the children he delivers to Trinibox, a school south of Guayaquil. Photo: Courtesy of Yecson Preciado.

At that time, he trained hundreds of children and young people, some of whom were national champions, and others won medals abroad. For example, he trained Anthony Reasco, who won a bronze medal in Colorado Springs (USA). This list was joined by Sergio Mina, who classified the boxing international in Argentina; Anthony Vivero who was at the youth world championship in Poland; Jampier Hurtado who won a silver medal at the South American Boxing Championships held in Rosario, Argentina, and there’s more, says Preciado.

One of his last prides is Sheila González, 13 years old, champion of the National Youth Games in Guayaquil.

Preciado is currently separated from his wife and is raising his children and granddaughter in a popular area of ​​Guayaquil. About six years ago, her economic income was affected to the extent that she no longer sends her minor children to school.

“I can’t send two little ones because you know that At school, everyone has their own food (students) and my children will watch because they leave without breakfast they come to the house by 12:00. I don’t have money to buy them lunch”, says the father of the family.

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A man has debts that he has not been able to repay. “The other week they cut off my internet because I couldn’t pay. I had to call Diego Arcos (journalist from TC Television), because he is my companion, he knows me and he sent me 60 dollars”, he says and adds that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, since he had a credit card, he used it to buy food for his family and that debt. maintains it.

And that’s not the only thing, he didn’t manage to finish the house. The construction started in 2014, and now the roof and wall need to be properly reinforced. “I’m thinking about winter. I’m missing a wall in the room because I have it at my neighbor’s and I don’t have enough to put it up. But we are moving forward, thank God,” says the former boxer, who tries to keep his dream intact: to train children.

It has a small school called Trinibox, where between 30 and 40 minors go to learn about sports. Preciado doesn’t want these kids looking for drugs.

“Having students in school is another complication because most kids don’t want to know anything anymore, they want to walk around with guns. “That’s another job I have, therapy for them,” he says.

Preciado does not want to stop teaching, but his second reality, how to get daily food, forces him to leave the house even at night. He does this to lend money to neighbors or as people already know him, they give him a bag of rice, eggs or sardines. And even in the morning he goes to the market to look for food for his dog, his unconditional friend.

Yecson Preciado with Jampiero Hurtado who won the silver medal at the South American Boxing Championships held in Rosario, Argentina. Photo: Courtesy of Yecson Preciado.

Preciad’s voice breaks when he mentions Christmas. He says that he is the favorite, but that this year will be much different because he will be faced with the question that he asks himself every day: how to raise children?

“I don’t know (how to do it), it will be the same in April for classes. Before (for Christmas) there were clothes, sweets (for children). “It’s all over,” he laments Destroyer.

Protagonist in the documentary

Yecson Preciado and his students participated Next round a documentary released in 2018 that showed one of the most conflicted neighborhoods in Guayaquil.

That story was based on two teenagers who struggled to progress under the guidance of their mentor, a former boxer who wants to justify himself in life.

You can also see the development of young people, from the first training sessions to national champions.

It was directed by Ernesto Yitux and Valeria Suárez Rovello, and it lasts 82 minutes.