The Cuban Olympic boxing team at London 2012 is stacked, per usual. It features 8 members, making it one of the bigger squads in the London Olympic boxing tournament, although showcasing one less team member than the United States, which has 9.
Cuba has the richest amateur boxing history of just about any nation, and therefore it’s no surprise that they’re locked and loaded for another huge medal haul, despite a string of defections from top fighters pursuing professional careers.
Cuba’s boxing performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was actually disappointing — to a degree. They won four silvers and four bronze medals, but failed to capture any golds, a rare blemish.
However, the Cuban boxing team performed very well at the 2011 World Championships, taking home two gold medals and one silver. Additionally, the only member of their current squad which hadn’t already qualified for London did so at the American Qualifying Event by handily winning gold in his weight class.
Here’s a rundown of the Cuban Olympic boxing team for the 2012 London Olympics.
- Yosvany Veita Soto – Light Flyweight: 19 years old, Yosvany is one of the younger members of the team. He qualified at the Worlds in 2011 by winning three matches, and in 2010 he took home a bronze at the youth world championships. He’s ranked number 6 in the world by the AIBA.
- Robeisy Ramirez – Flyweight: Ramirez, just 18 years old, won gold at the 2010 youth world championships. In the 2011 Worlds, he lost to highly touted Russian Misha Aloyan. Ranked 5th in the world, he’s a serious medal contender, and will be competing in a stacked weight class which also includes three-time US Olympian Rau’shee Warren.
- Lazaro Alvarez – Bantamweight: With a number 2 world ranking to his credit, and wins against British Olympian Luke Campbell and American Olympian Joseph Diaz en route to winning the 2011 Worlds, Alvarez is no joke. He’ll be the prohibitive favorite to take home Gold in the Bantamweight division.
- Yasniel Toledo – Lightweight: Toledo took home a silver at the 2011 Worlds and is ranked as the number 1 fighter at Lightweight. He’s another gold-medal favorite, but will have to fend off the challenge of Italian Lightweight star Domenico Valentino, the world’s number 2.
- Rosniel Iglesias – Light Welterweight: Iglesias won the American qualifying event by ousting talented Puerto Rican boxer Francisco Vargas. He has a 2009 World Championship on his resume, as well as a bronze medal performance in the 2008 Beijing Games. He’s currently ranked 10th in the world.
- Julio Cesar la Cruz – Light Heavyweight: The captain of the Cuban Olympic boxing team, Julio Cesar la Cruz won gold at the 2011 Worlds, knocking of Russia’s Egor Mekhontsev in the process. It’s good enough to make him the world’s number 1 ranked Light Heavyweight headed into the games.
- Jose Larduet – Heavyweight: Jose Larduet technically isn’t even the highest ranked Heavyweight in his own country, according to the AIBA. Still, he’ll be representing Cuba at the London Olympics after moving up from Light Heavyweight earlier in his amateur career.
- Erislandy Savon – Super Heavyweight: The name sounds familiar, doesn’t it? That’s right, 21-year-old Erislandy is nephew to Felix Savon. He has a number 5 world ranking, and lost in the 2011 Worlds to eventual champion Magomed Majidov. He previously won a youth world championship in 2008, at Heavyweight.
