Boxing school in Rio slum shows sport's power before Olympics

Teacher Alan (C) trains children on a boxing ring during an exercise session at a boxing school, in the Mare favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 2, 2016. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Beneath a street lamp in one of Rio de Janeiro's slums, 19-year-old boxer Wanderson de Oliveira does pull-ups from a metal bar outside the Fight for Peace academy while two skinny young boys watch intently.

Much of the Complexo da Maré, a teeming neighbourhood of 140,000 people near Rio's international airport, remains in the grip of drug gangs despite efforts to break their hold on the city's poor districts ahead of the August Olympic Games.