Cuba is the king of amateur boxing – but for six decades they were banned from turning professional.
This caused some of their greatest warriors of the past to flee the country, often on speed boats and even disguising themselves to do so.
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Professional playing had been banned in Cuba since 1962 because their late leader Fidel Castro considered it corrupt.
So the Cuban people were persuaded to take up boxing not for cash, but for the country.
So much so that heavyweight legend Felix Savon – a three-time Olympic gold medallist – turned down the chance to face Mike Tyson.
Famed but controversial promoter Don King made several multimillion-dollar offers for Savion to fight superstar Tyson.
But what was his answer? “Why would I box for $1 million, when I can fight for 10 million Cubans?”
Despite Savon’s devotion to the amateur code, not all of his countrymen were willing to do the same.
Several Cuban athletes who competed at the 2004 Olympics in Athens dared to leave and pursue their dream of winning a world title in the United States.
Odlanier Solis, Youriorkis Gamboa and Yann Barthelemy sold their medals won in Greece for just £1,000 to buy food for their families.
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Then, while on his way to the team’s training camp in Venezuela in December 2006, he fled to Colombia.
From there he went to Germany and signed business contracts while waiting for a US visa.
This inspired Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Lara – both future world champions – to do the same, until their attempts in 2007 were initially thwarted.
The pair disappeared while representing Cuba at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro and were sent back home.
According to IndependentHe dressed up in women’s clothing to evade Brazilian security but was sensationally captured in a brothel.
Both were subsequently banned from representing Cuba again, prompting them to flee once more.
And by 2009 they had both successfully moved to the US, and Rigondeaux and Lara subsequently won world titles as professional players.
Cuba faced somewhat of a crisis in Beijing in 2008, due to the appointment of five of its former Olympians to salaried positions.
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This was the first time since 1988 that they exited the Games without winning a single gold medal in boxing.
But that didn’t last long, as four years later in London he won two gold and two bronze medals.
Perhaps even more commendable was that none of the team surrendered immediately.
However, by the time the next Olympics in Rio ended, Lenier Pero, Robysi Ramirez and Johannes Argilagos had all defected.
Cuban officials then had to struggle to persuade their Tokyo 2020 stable to stay put even after the Tokyo 2020 Games were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
And they did, with Cuba topping the medal table with four gold and one bronze medal.
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Julio César La Cruz, Arlen López, Roniel Iglesias and Andy Cruz won the gold medal while Lázaro Álvarez won the bronze medal.
Despite years of infighting in Cuba to prevent its top players from turning professional, everything changed in 2022.
Because Cuba has finally ended the 60-year ban on professional boxing and given the green light for boxers to join boxing.
And in turn, some boxers chose to split their commitments to the amateur and professional codes following a separate controversial ruling.
In 2016, boxers with professional records were welcomed back into the Olympic amateur scene.
Of the eventual Cuban medalists, only Cruz decided against it, as he is 3-0 and already considered a contender for the world title.
But 2-0 heavyweight La Cruz – who was eliminated in the last 16 in Paris – and 3-0 middleweight Lopez – who reached the quarter-finals – have moved back up to the amateur category.
Read more at The Scottish Sun
It’s a sign that Cubans are still committed to playing as amateurs, despite the allure of prize money and world titles away from home.
