The return of professional boxing Varadero, led by the German promoter AGON Sports, was marked this Saturday by the absolute dominance of the local fighters, three of them successful in fights with international belts at stake.
With seven hits in the same number of presentations, they lived up to the name of Cuban Boxing Night with which the evening hosted by the Meliá Internacional hotel, in the famous resort, was baptized, according to a note from the sports portal Jit.
Cubans impose authority in professional cartel of #boxing
They celebrated the seven wins attempted on the card that left three belts on the Island. #Cuba #Boxing #CubanBoxinghttps://t.co/x3j5PcdnCi pic.twitter.com/fAFa58BVJw— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) November 30, 2025
The predictions were fulfilled, not only for established figures with the Olympic champion Erislandy Álvarez, or the three-time world champion Lázaro Álvarez, but for the rest of a formation with several debutants at this level.
Among the exalted was Erislandy, king in Paris 2024, the most demanded to revalidate the Latin American Continental belt of the World Boxing Association (WBA), conquered this year on the same stage.
The man from Sancti Spiritus was heading towards his sixth victory in boxing when, at the height of the penultimate round of the ten agreed upon rounds, the Mexican Rogelio Jiménez dealt him a blow that was close to reversing the situation.
The fears in the Cuban corner dissipated after the protection count and in the closing Erislandy dedicated himself to counteracting his rival’s momentum to ensure a unanimous vote, with scores of 95-94, 98-91, 96-93.
The process was calmer for Lázaro, also a bronze medalist under the five rings, after the dozen rounds that assured him a successful defense of the organization’s continental crown in the 61.3 kilogram section.
His opponent, also Mexican Raúl Hernandez, could do little to erase the Pinar del Río’s record of being undefeated in ten appearances as a professional.
Another Cuban champion
In the other fight on the program with a Cuban opting for a WBA prize, the young Yusnier Sorsano came out of the ring as the Federlatin titleholder of the 69.8 kilogram division, in only his second foray at this level.
Yusnier Sorsano will also fight for a belt on a professional boxing poster in Varadero
Willing to impress fans and promoters, the boy started at full speed and his rival, the Argentine Nicolás Verón, barely lasted three of the agreed eight rounds, as he was eliminated by technical KO.
Sorsano had debuted as a professional this same year in Berlin, and that demonstration, plus the efforts of the Cuban federation to promote his career, came together so that the confrontation with the most experienced South Americans – 27 fights in this type of boxing – convinced the organization to grant him the opportunity to fight for his first belt.
Encouraging premieres
Four other Cubans took advantage of their presentations in Varadero to begin their careers in professional circuits and made no false steps during the six rounds of their fights, although Keylor García barely needed to finish the first.
The exponent in the 79.3 kilogram category came out like a gale on the anatomy of the Colombian Armando Fontela, and the referee on the blackboard had no other option than to declare a technical KO to preserve the physical integrity of the visitor.
Alejandro Claro (60.8 kilograms) and Nelson Williams (90.7) did complete the entire journey against their opponents on duty. The first took advantage of his greater reach to dispatch, by unanimous vote, the Argentine Mauro Liendro, and his partner got rid of the Dominican Jankely Rodríguez in the same way.
Saidel Horta (57.1 kilos) was responsible for completing the sweep of the hosts in a fight that marked his return to action. The amateur world runner-up two years ago exhibited a complete recovery to beat Misael Vázquez, also from Dominican Republic, with a favorable verdict from all three judges.
Foreign prominence
The new professional boxing card on Cuban soil featured two fights with entirely foreign prominence, but equally attractive for followers of this sport.
In one, the German Malek Semmo eliminated the Venezuelan Julio Pérez with a unanimous verdict after six acts; and in the other, which put the highest prize at stake, the Moroccan Moussa Gholam needed only two of the 10 agreed rounds to knock out the Argentine Nicolás Nahuel Botelli and retain the WBA Continental Gold belt.
