Cuban boxers will be under scrutiny in and outside the Beijing ring after a string of defections but this exodus should not stop the communist-ruled island extending its boxing domination.
PARIS: Cuban boxers will be under scrutiny in and outside the Beijing ring after a string of defections but this exodus should not stop the communist-ruled island extending its boxing domination.
Boxing has given Cuba 32 of their 65 Olympic gold medals and produced such great names as Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon, both of whom resisted lucrative offers from American promoters. Former president Fidel Castro banned Cuban fighters from turning professional, believing they should serve the regime by winning medals rather than seek their fortunes.
Odlanier Solis, who claimed the heavyweight title in Athens in 2004, went missing in 2006 and signed a professional contract with Germany-based promoters. Others, such as former world welterweight champion Erislandy Lara, followed and fears of more defections led Cuba not to send a team to last year’s world amateur championships in Chicago.
The Cubans made a stunning return to the international ring at the Americas Olympic qualification tournament last March in Port of Spain, where nine of their fighters earned tickets to Beijing, among them exciting super-heavyweight Robert Acea. Cuba won eight medals in Athens, five of them gold, to top the table ahead of traditional rivals Russia who won three titles and six medals overall.
The United States had to be content with just one man in the finals, Andre Ward, who claimed the light-heavyweight title. American boxers have won a record 47 Olympic gold medals but are going through lean years, partly because their best men are impatient to turn professional and do not stay in the amateur ranks long enough to learn all the tricks. The situation is an embarrassment for a country that produced Olympic champions like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Among the fighters keen to restore the US boxing team’’s pride will be heavyweight Deontay Wilder. His inspiration is two-year-old daughter Naieya who was born with a spinal condition and defied predictions she might never walk. “My little girl has been my biggest influence ever since she was born,” Wilder told the American boxing team’s website (www.usaboxing.org).
“She influences me even more once I found out about her condition. She serves as my motivation in life.”
Boxing, as ever, will provide its share of great stories and the best might be attached to Romany Billy Joe Saunders.
The 18-year-old, who lives on a travellers’ site on the outskirts of London, looks set to become the face of British amateur boxing and dreams of emulating Amir Khan, who made a huge impact with his run to the silver medal in Athens. “Gold is my target,” said Saunders whose great-grandfather Absolom Beeney, now in his late 90s, was a bare-knuckle prize fighter in the boxing booths around the show grounds of England.
The modern version of Olympic boxing, where any blood is wiped off straight away and scoring machines make it closer to fencing with gloves than to a brawl, is respectable enough even for opponents who say the sport has no place in the Olympics.
Judges press a button to register clean punches rather than give a subjective score after each round which had led to repeated controversies at past Games.
The pressure on referees is still a reality and there will always be accusations of corruption but, overall, boxing has cleaned up its act to become a presentable member of the Olympic family, with a distinctive Cuban accent.
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