Hi Marcio!
Hi Tomasz.
How is it going !
I tore my Achilles tendon playing soccer with friends.
Uuuu, very bad news...

- 50% tear. I love soccer but it's very dangerous.
You love soccer because you are from a country where 110% of the population loves it . Over there football is at every corner 24 hours a day, so why did you start training for armwrestling, instead of football or another more popular sport?
I had played football semi-professionally in Brazil a long time ago but I prefer individual sports. If I lose it's my fault.

Did you train other sports?
Yes I did BJJ. I was a good fighter. I never competed but I was like a lion when training.
You live in New Jesey, USA with your family. Could you tell us more about them ?
Yes sure. I live with my wife Simoni.  She is Brazilian. We've been married for 12 years and we got married here in the USA. We have two boys: Joshua, 3 years old and Matthew, 1 year old both born in NJ USA...
Now back to armwrestling. When did you start armwrestling ?
My first contact with the sport was at the end of 1990,and really competing in 1991.
Who did involve you to this sport and who was you first trainer in Brazil ?
The person who involved me was a friend: a puller named Evandro Arruda. He died a long time ago in a motorcycle accident.

After him was Neno Grandezzi, the owner of World Gym in Campinas Sao Paulo.
At present you live in the US, so who are your practice partners on the table and in which club do you train ?
Right now I don't have any place or club to practice. I used to practice with Christian Binnie, Paul Wathers, Mike Selearis, Bob Sawick and Giorgi in NJ, and sometimes at Jason Vale's house with the NY guys.

Where can we expect to see Marcio Barboza pulling this year? Do you plan take part in any supermatch events ?
I haven't had time to really train lately, however I'll try to make ARM WARS in Vegas again.
If we talk about Vegas... could you tell us about your last match? Who did you pull at the Olympia ARM WARS event, in which division and with which arm ?
It was very nice. I pulled Rob Vigeant Jr and beat him 4-3. I won the first three and got tired, he won two then another by fouls and I won the last one to be in the battle ground finals. It was the Heavyweight division / 220 pounds, right arm. With the endurance in my prime and experience I think it could have won 6-0, but I was out of gas after the third round.

More at:

http://armwrestlersonly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/marcio-barboza-im-not-sure-if-i-will.html

Interview & photo by Tomasz Wisniowski (VISNIA)
Text editor: Eric Roussin