3. The Many Flags of Alberto Mercado
La Brega: Campeones
Futuro Media
4.8 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 February 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It was 1980, and the Olympics were to be held in Moscow against the backdrop of the Cold War. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter called for a boycott of the games, leaving Puerto Rican athletes uncertain of their participation. But Alberto Mercado and two other young Puerto Rican boxers were determined to represent Puerto Rico. This is a story about fighting for visibility on the global stage, and the heartbreak and triumph that athletes experience outside of the ring when politics and sports mix.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the English version in Spanish, |
| 0:03.1 | regreza al-Feed. |
| 0:04.8 | This is the English version of the episode. |
| 0:07.4 | And heads up, you can listen to the entire season of La Brega right now, |
| 0:11.9 | ad-free, plus exclusive episodes, by joining Futuro Plus. |
| 0:16.5 | And there's some explicit language in this episode. |
| 0:20.1 | You've been warned. |
| 0:21.3 | Now on to the show. |
| 0:26.5 | Futuro. |
| 0:30.5 | This episode starts with a remarkable photograph. |
| 0:39.8 | The snapshot is in black and white. |
| 0:42.0 | It's of a packed stadium with an athletic track, and there are three black men dressed in white |
| 0:46.6 | sweaters in the center of the frame. |
| 0:49.6 | Your eyes go right to them. |
| 0:53.0 | They're walking behind a woman holding a sign that reads Puerto Rico, along with the same name |
| 0:58.2 | in Russian. |
| 0:59.6 | They're at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. |
| 1:04.8 | La Brega producer Ezekiel Rodriguez-Andino showed it to me. |
| 1:09.0 | He actually has a copy at home, because there's a mystery behind this image, this moment |
| 1:14.1 | when three Afro-Borico men represented Puerto Rico in the Soviet Union. |
| 1:19.6 | And what has always grabbed my attention with this specific photo are their somber expressions. |
| 1:28.8 | Of course, we expect to see these athletes proud to be at the Olympics a big smile on their faces. |
... |
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