He cuban boxing remains undefeated in the World Championship of the International Association of that sport (IBA), after the triumphs this Monday of three of its representatives.
Julio César La Cruz, Arlen López and Fernando Arzola achieved their second successes in the event based in Dubai and thus advanced to the quarterfinals, in which they will seek to secure at least the bronze medal.
La Cruz, two-time Olympic champion and five-time king in the IBA world competitions, easily dominated the Senegalese Karamba Kebe in the 92 kilogram (kg) division.
According to HitLa Cruz “was quick and had a good finish, qualified by his usual mobility in defense”, in order to obtain the unanimous verdict of the five judges, who saw him win the three rounds without difficulty.
For bronze he will face the Uzbek Turabek Khabibullayev, an opponent a priori more demanding.
Three Cubans advance to the “quarterfinals” of the IBA World Cup
Arlen López, Julio César La Cruz and Fernando Arzola brought their squad’s consecutive wins to six. #Cuba #Boxing #CubanBoxing #CubanSporthttps://t.co/2PW6YCapx8 pic.twitter.com/JEi3Nn2jDr— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) December 8, 2025
Arlen and Arzola on different paths
For his part, two-time Olympic champion Arlen López (80 kg) did not even have to break a sweat to defeat Iraqi Ridha Talib Jabbar.
His victory, by no-show, guaranteed him a presence in the bronze medal contest, where he will have the Tajik Nekruz Salimov as his rival.
Super heavyweight Arzola had a very different path to the quarterfinals. The one from the island crossed gloves against the Spanish Ayoub Ghadfa Drissi El Aissaoui, bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The fight, however, was shorter than expected. Just shortly after the first minute had passed, a blow by the Cuban injured the arm of his rival, who “was left unable to resume actions,” according to Hit.
In this way he managed to overcome – “solidly”, highlights the sports publication – a tough obstacle on his route to the medals, something he could achieve if he beats the Uzbek Arman Makhanov for bronze.
These three quarterfinal fights for Cuba will be tomorrow, Wednesday, but first, this Tuesday, Giorvis Salfrán (51 kg) will try to follow in his footsteps and also achieve his second victory.
The island boxer, who achieved a close victory in his debut against the Azerbaijani Nijat Huseynov, will have another tough bone in the Spanish Salvador Molina, bronze at the Tashkent 2023 World Cup.
