Urtain, el ídolo de barro

Jordi Rovira
2025-02-18

6
74 min

José Manuel Ibar, Urtain, was a unique case in world boxing. Franco was looking for an idol for this sport and found a champion of stone lifting in Basque Country, who had never considered stepping into a ring. He became a myth and the most popular Spanish athlete of the seventies, but after leaving boxing, that good man lost everything. Alcoholic, ruined and forgotten, he ended up jumping into the void from his tenth floor apartment in Madrid. From heaven to hell the boxing ring.