Tanquinho celebrating win over Rafael Mendes / Photo: John Lamonica
To prepare for the 2011 Worlds in Long Beach, Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes made a speedy return to the USA. Namely to Florida, where he is conducting a highly sought-after seminar at our GMA Renato Tavares’s academy, ATT Vero Beach.
Just after last weekend’s Brazilian Nationals, Tanquinho was sure of one thing: he would compete at lightweight. But… “When I arrived here I was lighter than usual. Now I’m not so sure, and Renato and the folks at ATT are pushing for me to drop to featherweight. I’m going to sign up at lightweight and then decide at the last minute.”
So now Tanquinho is between a rock and a hard place – and wherever he ends up, there’s a good chance of a riveting rematch.
Last Sunday at the Brazilian Nationals he was eliminated by Leandro Lo. “I beat him at the 2011 Pan by 4 to 0, and the kid’s good people, deserves the conquests he’s been seeing. In Abu Dhabi he came up and talked to me about the competition, said he’s not used to fighting big names. I told him there was no one to fear or respect – just go for it. After he beat Langhi he came and poured thanks on me for the words I shared with him. At the Brazilian Nationals the spell worked against me,” chided Tanquinho. “We’ll see, it’s 1-1 so far, and I want a tie-breaker. I really want to fight him again.”
However, should he drop to featherweight…
“Then the rematch will be a whole different war, won’t it? I’m going to try for a repeat of what I did against (current champion) Rafael Mendes in Abu Dhabi. At least I proved it wasn’t impossible. However it plays out – at feather or at lightweight –, I’ll be well prepared,” said Augusto in closing, in his ever-calm manner.