Cuban boxers are to compete in their nation’s first professional contest in six decades today, eager to draw on their Olympic success to stage a victorious comeback.
Four Olympic medalists in a squad of six Cuban boxers are to make their professional debuts in Mexico “for the first time in the history of boxing,” event organizer Gerardo Saldivar said.
Cuba has long been a powerhouse of Olympic boxing, but participation in professional sport was barred by former Cuban president Fidel Castro in 1962.
Photo: AFP
After decades of defections by boxers who fled overseas to pursue salaried careers, the communist nation’s authorities last month finally opened up participation in professional boxing competitions.
Members of the “Los Domadores” national team are to fight their first professional bouts in Aguascalientes, Mexico, under a deal between the Cuban Boxing Federation and Golden Ring Promotions.
“Let world boxing fans know that Cubans have the quality and pedigree to box in all kinds of fields,” two-time Olympic champion and team captain Julio Cesar la Cruz said.
Also competing against opponents from Mexico and Colombia are three-time world champion and Olympic medalist Lazaro Alvarez, along with two-time Olympic champions Roniel Iglesias and Arlen Lopez.
“I feel very proud and eager to make my professional debut,” said Alvarez, who hopes for a “great show.”
“Let the whole world know and let all the boxers know that I’m looking forward to it and that I want to be great,” said Alvarez, who has adopted the nickname “The Prince” for his professional debut.
The Cuban squad are rounded out by world champion Yoenlis Hernandez and super featherweight Osvel Caballero, who replaced Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz at the last minute.
Federation president Alberto Puig said that Andy Cruz was excluded from the squad because he had neglected training.
Cuban boxers hold about 80 world and 41 Olympic titles.
Today’s contest comes as Cuba faces its worst economic crisis in nearly three decades, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and US sanctions.
The federation has said that fighters would be allowed to keep 80 percent of the salary owed to them for each fight.
“Many of us have families. I am a father of two ... so it will help us to raise our socioeconomic status and solve many problems,” Lopez told reporters in Havana last month.
Cuba started a slow advance toward joining the professional realm when Los Domadores debuted at the World Series of Boxing (WSB) in 2014. The tournament allowed fighters to retain their amateur status.
The country won three of the five WSB tournaments in which it competed, including the most recent one in 2018.
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