AREQUIPA, Peru – Havana will host a “Night of Champions” of the International Boxing Association (IBA) on Tuesday, with a pair of fights in professional format at 7:00 PM (local time) at the Sports City.
This is the first event of its kind in the history of boxing in Cuba in more than 60 years, with prizes of 120,000 and 100,000 dollars for the winner and loser, respectively, of these two 10-round main event battles.
According to the state agency Latin PressThese clashes will be between two-time Olympic champions Arlen López (80 kilograms) and Julio César La Cruz (92), against Dominican José Luis Tejeda and Uzbek Madiyar Saydrakhimov, respectively.
For his part, Erislandy Álvarez, gold medalist in Paris 2024 at 63.5 kilograms, and the also double champion under the five rings Roniel Iglesias (67) will face the Colombian José Ignacio Muñoz and the Armenian Gurgen Mamoyan, in that order.
The other fights, also six rounds like the previous two, will feature Saidel Horta (57) against the Russian Ruslan Belousov and Lázaro Alvarez (63.5) against the Uzbek Mujibillo Tursonov.
A master class with children in the spotlight and a public weigh-in of the stars of the “Night of Champions” were scheduled for the morning of August 27, followed by a press conference by the head of the IBA, Russian Umar Kremlev, in the afternoon.
The celebrations for World Boxing Day began the day before with a meeting of the IBA Executive Committee and the Forum of American Boxing Federations.
The event was created to commemorate the celebration in Havana of the first World Amateur Boxing Championship, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary these days.
In 1961, professional sport was abolished in Cuba as part of a movement that sought to “align itself with the principles of the Revolution, privileging amateur sport as a symbol of socialist achievements,” according to the rhetoric of the Cuban regime.
For more than five decades, Cuban boxers, among other athletes, stood out in international competitions, especially at the Olympic Games, but always under the banner of amateurism. Although in 2013 the participation of Cuban athletes in professional events was timidly allowed, these fights always took place outside the national territory.
