The extraordinary story of Olympic champion Paul Gonzales

Gonzales should never have been a boxer, though. He could have either perished in one of those US jails or even might have been killed in an encounter. But somehow he escaped all that to become a gold medal winner in the Olympics.

Childhood at Texas was tough for Gonzales. His father left him when he was only seven years old. His mother was left to raise their eight children on her own. At the age of nine, he joined one of the major gangs active in their area. There were thirteen of them in all. Gonzales chose one and started making enemies.

When he was twelve, he went cruising with his friends (the other members of his gang). Their Chevrolet Impala stalled in an area controlled by one of the rival gangs. Much like it's shown in Bollywood gangster movies, shots were fired through the car windows and he was hit on the side of his head. He nonchalantly washed his head in a lake at a nearby park and made his cousin provide first-aid.

Three years later, a murder charge was filed against his name. His coach was a policeman who helped him escape the charges. He once saw Gonzales in a street fight and got convinced that he had potential to make it big inside the boxing ring.

Punching above his weight

Often the society makes a criminal and it's the society once again which creates difficulties if the same criminal wants to get back to normal life. Gonzales' case was not an exception. He was mocked by friends for stopping drinking, going to bed early, for getting up early and running long distances.

It was the difficult period which Gonzales and his coach weathered well. Slowly, the situation changed and those friends became protective about Gonzales. They helped in making sure that he was sleeping alright and staying in perfect shape.

At the age of 17, Gonzales was out of the ring for a year due to a surgery in his hand. His comeback fight resulted in an upset victory over the reigning Olympic champion Shamil Sabirov. There was no looking back from that point.

He entered the Los Angeles Olympics as a dark hours. He found top form from round one and won the gold medal when his opponent in the final showed up with his hand in a cast. It was a walkover for him.

Gonzales himself suffered a hairline fracture above his right wrist during his first round match and needed a surgery post the Olympics. He was so impressive that he easily won the Val Barker award for the best boxer in that Olympics.

Gonzales went up on the podium with two flags in his hand - one of the USA and the other of Mexico. At that point in time, he told reporters, "I won this gold medal, not just for myself or my mom or my coach, but the for the kids like me who are always told, " You're nothing". The only way you're going to make it come true is by dreaming it, and when you dream something, you've got to turn it into reality. Because if you don't, you just die with your dreams."

He turned professional but some unfortunate accidents helped make it an unsuccessful venture. But Gonzales' story is still a fairy-tale. He made sure that the fruits of his success were available to other lightweight boxers as well. His initiatives did help in bridging the pay-gap between lightweight and heavyweight boxers in the professional circuit.