Three Olympic champions, among them the man from Camagüey Julius Cesar La Cruzhead the list that Cuba will present at the World Boxing Championship based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with actions from next May 1st.
according to a note from the sports portal HitLa Cruz (92 kilograms) will arrive at the contest with the aim of winning his sixth crown in these fights, which would equal the feat achieved by the star and already retired super heavyweight Felix Savón.
La Cruz leads Cuban team to the World Cup #Boxing
The appointment will be held from May 1 to 14 in the midst of a very complex situation for the international association, shaken by the emergence of an alternative organization. #Cuba #CubanBoxing #boxinghttps://t.co/DLr6rfvWbp pic.twitter.com/3cxnA9esvv— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) April 14, 2023
The Cuban army also includes boxers such as Roniel Iglesias (67 kg) and Arlen López (80 kg), who also have two crowns in tournaments under the five rings.
According to the newspaper, another of the figures that will represent the island will be the three-time world champion Lázaro Álvarez (63.5 kg), in order to round off a quartet that has not yet conceded setbacks in its first forays into professional boxing.
Others who already know what it means to consecrate themselves at this level are Yoenlis Hernández, current universal champion of the 75-kilogram division, and Yosbany Veitía (54 kg), owner of a crown and the only one from the Domadores de Cuba franchise to have been defeated. in professional circuits.
The outlet points out that seven other competitors with less relevant results complete the squad, including the bronze medalist in the 2021 World Youth Championship, Fernando Arzola.
Cuba hosted the founding version of those games, held in 1974, and leads the historical medal table with 80 gold, 35 silver and 28 bronze medals, the report added.
Boxing, uncertain outlook
The new planetary tournament organized by the International Boxing Association (IBA) will take place in an uncertain panorama, marked by the unresolved differences between this entity and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The IOC suspended the IBA in 2019 due to financial, governance and match-fixing problems at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 event. In this way, the organization was left out of the organization of the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic tournaments.
To this is added the recent creation of a new federation called World Boxing and headed by American and British federations, whose goal is to save the place that boxing had occupied until now in the Olympic Games.
An agency office PA and reviewed by Hitspecifies that the new organization would be led by Tyson Lee, president of the American Boxing Federation, who claimed to represent the position of his country and “of many other federations.”
“We have great interest in maintaining the link with the Olympic movement, and at some point that stopped being a priority for the IBA,” said the manager.
The World Boxing will be established in Switzerland, with a board of directors made up of athletes and leaders, including Lee and Matthew Holt, executive director of the British boxing federation, the information specifies.
CUBAN TEAM
Alejandro Claro (48 kg), Erislán Romero (51 kg), Yosbany Veitía (54 kg), Saidel Horta (57 kg), Erislandis Álvarez (60 kg), Lázaro Álvarez (63.5 kg), Roniel Iglesias (67 kg) , Jorge Cuéllar (71 kg), Yoenlis Hernández (75 kg), Arlen López (80 kg), Nelson Williams (86 kg), Julio César La Cruz (92 kg) and Fernando Arzola (+92 kg).