Boxing in Cuba . Known as the sport of fists, it was practiced in ancient Greece , in the Olympic Games , from the beginning it was a popular sport. In Rome , the contestants wore the cestus, metal hand protectors, studded with nails with which they even killed the contestants.
Summary
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- 1 History
- 1 Background
- 2 Beginnings
- 3 National Boxing Commission
- 4 Revolutionary period
- 2 Glorias of Cuban Boxing
- 3 References
History
Background
The exact date of the emergence of boxing in Cuba has not been successfully established. It is linked – like baseball – to the North American cultural influence on the island. Due to the cheapness of its practice, boxing matches were held among the poorest classes of the country, while the most organized practice was limited to the aristocratic circles of the nation, where, in addition, basketball and tennis were played , which needed implements only affordable for the wealthy sectors of the population.
the beginning
It is considered that it was the Chilean John Budinich , who in the first months of 1910 inaugurated the first Boxing Academy in Havana. In just under two months he got his services hired by the aristocratic Vedado Tennis Club . From that moment on, the Chilean combined his private classes with public exhibitions in order to interest young people and expand the field of this sport.
Budinich counted among his students those who can be considered as the pioneers of boxing in Cuba: Víctor Achán , Tomás Galiana , Mike Febles and Bernardino San Martín . The fights that these first Cuban boxers carried out had a family or friendly character and were called “parties”, since as a general rule they were always held at the home of one of them or their friends.
With the passage of time, the fights became popular and each program attended a greater number of people. However, in 1912 the Secretary of the Interior, Francisco López Leyva , issued a decree in which any type of boxing match was suspended. The reason for the suspension lay in the fear of the government of José Miguel Gómez that there would be public disorder in the event of fights between black and white boxers, due to the recent repression of the Movement of Independents of Color .
Starting in 1916, the boxing tours of the Havana fighters began in the rest of the provinces. Shortly after, boxing managed to take root in certain areas of the country and talents began to emerge throughout the Cuban geography:
Matanzas developed Antolín Fierro , recognized by the majority of Cubans, as the true heavyweight champion. Also from that time is flyweight José García , who faced the best in his division. Cienfuegos counted on this stage with Sparring Caballero, a very good heavyweight who made successful forays into the ring of Havana. Also from Cienfuegos was Enrique Ponce de León , who became the 147 lb champion and Generoso Pino , who came to conquer the belt of the flies.
In Sagua la Grande , very good billboards were offered with figures of recognized quality. The list of fighters from that city appears headed by Esteban Gallard , alias “Kid Charol”, an excellent middleweight, considered among the best Cuban boxers of all time. Also from Sagua la Grande were fighters such as Ramón Cabrera , Roleaux Sagüero , Kid Molinet , Kid Ríos , Juan Tapia and Young Molina .
Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila were good places for boxing fights . One of the main promoters in that region was Luis Felipe Gutiérrez , “Pincho” who would become the coach of the world champion Kid Chocolate . In the Camagüey area, those early years stood out, Remberto Dúo , Conguito Camagüey , Tony Domínguez and Joe Legón .
In the East , Palma Soriano was the boxing arena par excellence, although quality fights were also exhibited in Santiago de Cuba , Holguín , Guantánamo , Manzanillo , Baracoa and Jiguaní . Among the main eastern fighters were Bill Scott , John Herrera and Goyito Rico .
The first champions emerged from the first boxing matches held in Cuba. These were selected for their qualities by Professor Budinich among the fighters who showed the greatest abilities. The list of early headlines included the names of Victor Achán (118 pounds), Tomás Galiana (126 pounds), Manolo Vivancos (135 pounds), Juan Suárez (147 pounds) and Anastasio Peñalver (more than 175 pounds).
National Boxing Commission
Main article: National Boxing and Fighting Commission .
The first steps towards the practice of organized boxing in Cuba were undertaken by promoters Vicente Cubillas and Bernardino San Martín , who consecutively opened the first companies that offered boxing cards open to the public: Ring Cuba and Black Cat Ring .
The death of Cuban boxer Joe Marroquín as a result of a blow inflicted by his opponent Alex Puebles during the fight carried out at the Recreo de Belascoaín on March 21 , 1918 caused the mayor of Havana to outlaw boxing and declare:
“Boxing is wild, barbarous (…). As long as I am mayor of Havana and while I can deny permission for this barbarous sport, I will deny it ”
In 1921, the Interior Ministry , led by Colonel Charles Hernández, decided to create by decree the National Boxing and Fighting Commission to organize everything related to the practice of these sports in Cuba. After overcoming the opposition of the new Havana mayor Marcelino Díaz de Villegas, who continued the prohibition policy of his predecessor, the Commission was established on December 13 , 1921 .
Prestigious figures of the time, of recognized boxing liking were chosen to integrate the institution. The first Commission was made up of Colonel Rosendo Collazo (President), Juan O’Naghten (Vice President) and Commanders Augusto York and Ramón Fonst together with Mario Mendoza (members).
The Commission proclaimed the first national champions in the nine divisions, as well as the establishment of weight limits between them. It established that every boxer who held a title must defend it within a period of six months, from the date of obtaining or last defense. Anyone who did not do so was sanctioned by the Commission with the loss of the title.
The belts of the different divisions were the property of the Commission and could only be used by the champions, who were obliged to present them to the institution as many times as required or to return them in case of loss of the championship. Boxers were also required to renew their professional boxing license periodically. The breach of this commitment invalidated them to fight in Cuban territory.
Revolutionary period
The Cuban Revolution , which triumphed 1 of January of 1959 completely changed the practice of boxing in the country. The 4 of January of 1962 the practice was suspended the professional boxing in Cuba [1] and for fifty years no Cuban boxer was able to participate in fights rented representing his country.
Glorias of Cuban Boxing
Among the champions in the most important city of Federal Germany were Adolfo Horta , Ángel Herrera and Pablo Romero , thanks to them, Cuba retained the team crown, four years later, the World Cup for the first time stepped on North American soil and it was in a A place where boxing is very popular, Reno hosted the best boxers of the moment and the event marked the World Cup debut of one of the greatest boxing Legends of all time: the phenomenal Félix Savón who was still in his youth, but impresses everyone. technicians and included him in the national team.
Felix Savon
Félix Savón finished all the rivals in 91 kilograms; although the main headlines were deserved by Teófilo Stevenson , in one of his last international presentations. The triple Olympic champion was presented in more than 91 kilos and the performance was so impressive that the organizers awarded him the Rusell Cup , a trophy awarded to the most complete boxer in the World Cup.
In Reno , for the first time in history, the Cuban team won in seven of the 12 divisions and logically dominated the World Cup without problems, in addition, I think we must stop to highlight Adolfo Horta’s third consecutive crown . The fiery fighter will forever be in the record books, not just because of his titles, but because he accomplished them in no less than three different divisions and that’s impressive.
Horta won at 54 kilograms in 1978 ; Then he turned 57 in 1982 and finally, in 1986 he competed in the 60’s, that feat will be extremely difficult to match and not to mention surpass, then we advance to one of the most controversial World Cups in history, Moscow , in 1989 I wouldn’t dare call it the most controversial because Houston 1999 certainly had a high dose of judging bias as well.
In 1989 the Soviets, although there was a short time before they stopped calling themselves that, presented a very strong team; But beyond the athletic quality, the referees did everything possible so that Cuba did not finish in the first position … and they succeeded, the Soviets won one more title, 5 by 4, and in this the outcome of the final fight of the 51 kilos when absolutely no one could imagine that the referees would rule in favor of the local Yuri Arbachakov who lost widely in the ring against the Cuban Pedro Orlando Reyes ; however, the men in white wanted to see something else.
The open robbery ended the chain of four consecutive triumphs achieved by the Cuban delegations, despite these obvious problems, Félix Savón returns with the second gold medal and makes his debut at the maximum weight, more than 91 kilos, a young man who promised a lot, Roberto Balado el Gordito who surprised everyone with this title.
