The Associação Escola Boxe Tavira Iria Santos was born from a friendship, a shared passion for sport and the desire to create something bigger for the community of Tavira.

 

It all started when Carlos Soares met coach António Iria Santos through a work colleague, Paulo Simões, at the Faro hospital. By coincidence, their sons, Pedro Soares and Sebastião Santos, were attending swimming lessons at the same time.

During an informal conversation, Carlos said that his son played football at ADT (Sporting School in Tavira). António showed interest in enrolling his son in the same school and, as Carlos was the delegate for the 2013 age group, he took care of the registration form for him.

 

From there, a friendship was born, cemented by sport. During these meetings, António told his story as a boxing coach — a career spanning more than 30 years, marked by some very notable achievements, including being a professional boxer and coach of champions, such as the well-known Bento Algarvio, world champion.

 

When Carlos' son, Pedro Soares, retired from football, Carlos decided to enroll him in boxing at the Ginásio Clube de Tavira, where António was a coach. As Carlos watched the training sessions, he became increasingly involved and the idea was born: why not create his own boxing school? António deserved this recognition, for his history, dedication and the impact he had on the sport of boxing.

 

In conversation with the Councillor of the Tavira Municipal Council, Mr. Eurico Palma, the suggestion arose to form an association. And so it was. After several informal conversations, they went ahead with the creation of the school, deciding right away that the name Iria Santos would be part of the project, as a way of paying tribute to the coach and his internationally recognized career.

 

They chose the name Associação Escola Boxe Tavira Iria Santos and, shortly after, Carlos created the school's logo, inspired by a photograph of one of his athletes, Lucas Santos. This moment officially marked the birth of the project, which quickly began to take shape, bringing together athletes, families and friends around their passion for boxing.

 

Today, the school is more than a training space — it is a family united by sport, friendship and the values that boxing teaches: respect, discipline, overcoming and companionship.

 

Welcome to the Tavira Iria Santos Boxing School Association.