Violation Jeopardizes Duncanville Boxer's Olympic Berth

June 30, 2008

by: Kate Hairopoulos, Dallas Morning News

Duncanville boxer Luis Yanez's trip to the Beijing Olympics is in jeopardy.

USA Boxing told Yanez he was being removed from the U.S. Olympic team,

citing violation of its athlete code of conduct.

Yanez, a team captain, and his longtime local trainer Dennis Rodarte say he

was forced to choose between his family and the Games. The violation, they

said, was Yanez choosing to remain at home instead of returning to the U.S.

Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., where Yanez has been

based since making the U.S. team last August.

"I have family issues; they don't understand it," said Yanez, 19. "If they want to

lose a gold medal, they don't know that they are going to lose it."

Yanez, a 106-pound light flyweight, was supposed to return to Colorado on

June 8.

It's unclear what communication Yanez and Dan Campbell, national director of coaching, have had since then.

"We didn't know if anything was wrong with him. We had no idea what was going on with him because he wouldn't talk to anybody," Campbell said.

Yanez missed a team trip to Argentina and lost two months' stipend ($6,000) before returning to the training center Sunday.

Once there, Yanez was informed by Jim Millman, CEO of USA Boxing, that he had been removed from the team. Yanez returned to Dallas on Monday evening.

According to USA Boxing, Yanez can appeal to the organization's judicial committee. The hearing is in the process of being scheduled. The Olympics begin Aug. 8.

Yanez can also file for an arbitration hearing, which is a right provided by the U.S. Olympic Committee's constitution and bylaws.

Yanez will train at his home gym, GTO in Oak Cliff, in the meantime.

"He'll be in the gym in the morning, you better believe it," Rodarte said.

Rodarte also spoke of long-standing tensions between him and Campbell regarding Yanez's training.

Yanez, an admitted showboat, likes to go by the nickname "Latin Legend." He recently became the first in his family to earn his high school diploma.

Just last week, Dallas-area well-wishers held a send-off for Yanez at a West End restaurant. State representative Roberto Alonso gave him a commemorative plaque.

Yanez qualified for the Beijing Games by winning the U.S. Olympic team trials last August and then advancing to the quarterfinals of the AIBA World Championships in October.

"He's worked for this," Rodarte said. "He's earned his way onto this team. ... He's down. Not only is he representing the U.S. and Dallas, he's representing his family, his coach. That's all he wants to do is please us."

Al Día staff writer Diego Aparicio contributed to this report.

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