Cuba: The New Boxing Superpower

Cuban boxers

Kid Chocolate and Cuban Boxing

CUBANS ARE NOT NEW TO THE SPORT OF BOXING, having brought a "formidable presence" to professional venues since the appearance of Kid Chocolate, the first Cuban to hold a world boxing title in the early 1930s.

"Boxing initially arrived in Cuba as a tourist attraction," wrote Louis A. Pérez, Jr., in the book On Becoming Cuban, Identity, Nationality and Culture, "mainly championship bouts between North American Boxers during the high tourist season."

The International Boxing Hall of Fame in New York has enshrined five Cuban boxers: Kid Chocolate, Kid Gavilan, Luis Rodriguez, Ultimino "Sugar" Ramos and Jose Napoles.

A law passed in 1962, National Decree 83a, made professional sports illegal in Cuba, and as a result many professional athletes left the island, settling in the U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico and Europe. Some of the boxers who left at this time had already made a name for themselves, including: Luis Rodriguez, Benny Paret, Isaac Logart, Doug Vaillant, Sugar Ramos, José Legra and José Napoles.

Enforcement of law 83a kept Cuban-trained fighters out of the professional circuit.

Above the ring in Havana's main boxing gym, a slogan reads: "In Cuba we only love those who resist and the rest we tolerate."

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"Boxing is well suited to the Cuban character," said legendary boxing coach Alcides Sagarra. "We are brave, resolute and selfless. We have strong convictions and clear definition. We are pugnacious and we like to fight." Sagarra, a known Communist, became Cuba's head boxing coach in 1960 and passed the job to Sarbelio Fuentes in 2001. (Sagarra's book, Boxeo: El PDC En La Escuela Cubana, describes in detail the program that has made Cuba the new boxing superpower.)

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The first Olympic medal ever won by a Cuban competitor went to Ramon Fonst in the Paris games of 1900. He took home the gold medal in sword fencing. Cuba didn't have a highly visible presence at the Olympic games or in international competition until the mid 1960s.

Cuban Boxers at The Olympic Games

The first Olympic medal ever won by a Cuban competitor went to Ramon Fonst in the Paris games of 1900. He took home the gold medal in sword fencing. Cuba didn't have a highly visible presence at the Olympic games or in international competition until the mid 1960s.

The first Olympic medal in boxing ever won by a Cuban went to Rolando Garbey, who took home a silver medal from the 1968 games in Mexico. Since the games that followed in 1972, Cuba has dominated amateur boxing competition.

"Cuban fighters smell fear in their opponents," said WBO former heavyweight champ Michael Bentt. "If they can intimidate you, they've got you. They psychologically steamroll guys."

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Cuban boxing