SPOTLIGHT | ON BOXING
Defections might hurt Cuban team
BY SANTOS A. PEREZ
sperez@MiamiHerald.com
The final verdict is more than a year away, following the 2008 Olympics,
but the defections of Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solis and Yan
Barthelemy could have a potentially damaging effect on the Cuban boxing
program.
Gamboa, Solis and Barthelemy, who plan to begin their professional
careers soon, won three of Cuba's five boxing gold medals in the 2004
Athens Olympics and were strong favorites to win their respective weight
classes in Beijing.
''This affects Cuban boxing, since we were three Olympic gold medalists,
and I believe would have been double gold medalists had we stayed,''
Gamboa said soon after arriving in Miami on Thursday night.
Cuba successfully adapted with notable defections in previous Olympics.
Months before the 1996 games, Joel Casamayor and Ramon Garbey left the
boxing team in Mexico and crossed the border to the United States, where
they became professional fighters.
Casamayor, who has won professional world titles in two weight classes,
was a 1992 Olympic gold medalist and Garbey had won a world amateur title.
''Because of the obvious political and propaganda reasons, Cuba values
gold medals, perhaps more than any other country,'' said Miami trainer
Roberto Quesada, who worked in the Cuban boxing system for 20 years
before defecting in 1996.
In Athens, five of Cuba's nine overall golds were in boxing. ''So you
can imagine what effect losing these three boxers will have in the next
Olympics,'' Quesada said.
Quesada said Cuban boxing emphasizes veteran presence to help infuse new
talent. Teams often feature repeat Olympic gold medalists such as
Teofilo Stevenson, Felix Savon and Mario Kindelain.
''In their system, you usually didn't have a big turnover rate from one
Olympics to the other,'' Quesada said. ``When a new boxer makes the
team, he has the benefit of being taken in by the established boxers.
``Now they will have no other choice but to adapt and establish new
talent sooner than usual.''
However, Barthelemy, still believes that Cuban boxing has sufficient
talent to overcome the recent defections.
''Our teammates that stayed on the island will need to grow in
experience, and our replacements will have a difficult, but not
impossible, task,'' Barthelemy said. ``If they train and prepare well,
they will have successful results.''
IMBRAGIMOV FIGHT
Part-time Hallandale Beach resident Sultan Ibragimov will face Mexico's
Javier Mora on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The
date and venue originally were for Ibragimov's challenge of World Boxing
Organization heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs, but Briggs, who lives
in Pembroke Pines, withdrew three weeks ago because of pneumonia.
''I'm very disappointed I'm not fighting Briggs, but these things
happen,'' Ibragimov said in a statement released by his promotional
company, Warriors Boxing. ``I am happy that Mora has the courage to step
up and face me on [Saturday], and I assure my fans that I will be
getting my championship belt.''
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