One of the most alarming problems in Mexico is the high rate of people living on the streets, especially boys and girls who come in this context due to sexual or emotional abuse, rejection due to sexual orientation or gender identity, mental health problems, Are. Substance abuse and family abuse.
Juan Manuel Castaneda known in the world of boxing as Iron, part of these statistics was because at home had a very strict upbringing which was based on beatings and humiliation from his father, a condition which leading him to seek refuge in alcohol and drugs.
Now, IronJoe thanks to the help of his parents and a rehabilitation clinic, turned away from the cults, He dedicates himself one hundred percent to boxing, a sport that gave him a reason to live From now on, this is what matters most to him.
“I got into boxing in a very peculiar way. I was contracted because of alcohol and drug problems And when I came out I was very fat, so a godfather took me to exercise and I started boxing without thinking how far I could go. It’s true that the group got me off drugs, but Boxing has changed my life and given me a reason to live Go ahead and be a better person. I want to help people and I know boxing is a sport that helps a lot of kids. I give boxing classes, I’m putting up a gym in my house and I’ve seen a lot of kids who are distracted, who have problems and fights with their families and I want to help them,” he said. juanma,
Similarly, Castañeda opened exclusively for Millennium – The Hobby and reveals why he became a street kid.
“It was because of the typical Mexican education of beatings and humiliation, I know it has nothing to do with it, there are successful and successful people who had a very difficult life. I started drinking at the age of 12, I drank inside my house and got into a lot of trouble, At the age of 15, I started using marijuana and then came solvents and whatever came after, even stones. They kicked me out of my house several times and I threw myself into vice, I wandered the streets, and suddenly I was on the streets, I had such a strong need to take drugs that I couldn’t do anything other than drugs didn’t care about the day,” he noted. Castañeda, who added:
“One day I went to buy a vice near my house, because it was cheap, I thought: ‘What if I go home? ‘”. I went and asked for help, they said yes, but I had to go to a group, I was already 18, I had already endured everything and tried everything, so I myself Came in groups to resettle.
Committed crimes
Juan Manuel Castaneda said that his need to rise up led him to steal, “All of a sudden my schoolmates would pass by and I would feel embarrassed. When I was high I had no appetite, I used to get tired and that’s why one takes so many drugs. begs or steals.”
,I’ve stolen on a few occasions, when I was about 16 I was worried about doing itI want to be like them, do what they are doing; At first I did it by copying, but when I was on the streets I did it compulsively, even though I knew that grabbing was wrong, they could have taken me to jail. I had everything in my house, to the best of my ability, my family always gave me what I needed, but one takes drugs because there is an emptiness,” he shared.
I didn’t want to live
Yes, Iron He dreams of being the world champion, when earlier he only wanted to die so that the suffering would not continue.
“I know I started my career as a boxer earlier, but One of my goals is to improve my technique, go to round 10 And in the long term, I know I’m old enough for boxing, because I started boxing when I was 21 and I spent two years on the side, cut weight for a year and then I started boxing, But I’d like to get to fight for a championship, There is nothing else in my life except boxing, I want to dedicate all my time to it And striving to be able to play the World Championships”, he said.
,If I didn’t join a group, I would end up in jail, dead or insane., Because of the harm I had done to my family, I had a great desire to die, deep down always thinking: ‘I want to die now, be crushed or die suddenly of a stroke, this is a very Had secret thoughts, but today I see what I have achieved. I never thought that I would become a boxer, I never thought that I was going to go abroad, I never thought that my circle of friends was going to be athletes, engineers, doctors… my circle changed completely , so I don’t think so,” he concluded.
