The Cuban squad that participated in the World Youth Boxing Championship in La Nucia, Spain, closed its performance with two crowns, a silver medal and three bronzes, after Ronny Álvarez and Adrián Fresneda won two titles this Saturday.
Álvarez, in the 86 kilograms division, defeated the Italian Paolo Caruso in the scepter discussion with a split vote of 3-2. The left-hander from Ciego de Avila, champion last year of the Junior Pan American Games in Cali-Valle, once again showed his skills in the riposta style and managed to prevail over the European opponent by a narrow margin.
For his part, Fresneda (92 kg) beat Englishman Damar Thomas (4-1) 4-1, who did not offer much resistance. In this way, the man from the capital shows signs of progression after being placed in bronze during the 2021 Junior Pan American Games held in Colombia, where he lost to a local boxer in a controversial arbitration decision.
The other Cuban medalists on Spanish soil were Ewart Marín (52), who took silver after losing 4-1 in the final against Mexican Ari Bonilla. Meanwhile, Kryhztian Barrera (75), Pedro Alexis Veitía (71) and Luis Reynoso (80) were in bronze after losing in the semifinals.
Cuba, which competed with eight exponents in La Nucia, only did not obtain medals in the 60 and 67 kilogram divisions, in which Liester Cantero and Jorge Forcades, who lost in very different ways. Forcades, injured with a sprained ankle, fell unquestionably 5-0 against England’s Levi Barnes, but Cantero met a crueler fate.
The man from Ciego de Avila defeated Lee McEvoy 3-2 in his second bout, but a review by the judges gave victory to the Irish rival. According to Alberto Puig de la Barca, president of the Cuban Boxing Federation, he said that the current regulations require these revisions and the final decision was against the Cuban.
Cuba finished the World Cup in sixth place in the table with six medals (2-1-3), behind Uzbekistan (5-3-2), India (4-3-4), England (2-2-3 ), Kazakhstan (2-2-3) and Ukraine (2-2-1). With this expense, the island’s army has won 79 crowns, 21 silvers and 31 bronzes in the history of the Youth World Cups, which were held for the first time in 1979.
With these two crowns, Cuba matches its best record of the last five World Cup editions in the youth category. In 2012, Alexei Guibert (56) and Kevin Brown (64) were the champions for the island’s teams, while in 2014 Javier Ibáñez (56) and Yordan Hernández (91) were titled. In 2016, Osvary David Morell (81) and Dainier Peró (91), currently inserted in professional circuits after leaving the country, climbed to the top of the podium.
In the last two World Cup events held in Hungary and Poland, Cuba only won one title in each one. In 2018, Idalberto Umará (64) was crowned, and in 2021 the only gold medalist was Jorge Felimón (91).
To find a superior result in the category, we have to go back to 2010, when Robeisy Ramírez (54), Irosvani Duvergel (81) and Lenier Peró (91) won three titles in the Baku, Azerbaijan tournament.
