Colombian boxer in Rio fled feared paramilitary kingpin

Colombian boxer in Rio fled feared paramilitary kingpin

RIO DE JANEIRO - Ceiber David Avila and his terrified family fled his Colombian hometown after an infamous senior paramilitary leader now locked up in the United States allegedly murdered his uncle.

Ceiber David Avila punches Mexico's Elias Eliseo Emigdio Abarca during their men's fly (52kg) match in Rio on August 15, 2016

Now he is chasing Olympic history in Rio as the first Colombian to win boxing gold.

That dream -- unthinkable when his world was brutally turned upside down as a little boy -- edged closer to reality when the 27-year-old flyweight progressed through to the quarter-finals.

Avila was born in the Colombian port city of Turbo, near the border with Panama.

But when he was just five a deeply feared paramilitary boss called Salvatore Mancuso -- described by US authorities as one of Colombia's most notorious drug traffickers -- entered their lives and killed his uncle.

Avila and his family gave up all they knew and had to move to the capital Bogota in fear of their lives.

For a young Avila, it was a frightening and mystifying place and the family had to rebuild their lives from nothing.

"That Mancuso was bad. After they killed my uncle, my mother decided we had to leave," said Avila.

Four years later he found boxing, with the encouragement of his mother, after he began getting into trouble at school.

He now wants to repay his mother, hoping to earn enough from his Games exploits to buy her a new house.

"I would also like to build a sports facility for kids to play sports," added Avila, who trains with Yurberjen Martinez, the light-flyweight who won silver on Sunday -- a first for Colombian boxing in Games history.

He too pledged to buy his mother a new home.

Meanwhile Mancuso is living under a roof of a very different kind -- a high-security US prison.

Last year a US court handed him a 15-year sentence for conspiracy to traffic large amounts of cocaine after he was extradited to the United States.

Mancuso is also alleged to have committed human rights violations.

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