Arnaldo Mesa, Cuban Amateur Star

[williefromrichmond]

Arnaldo Mesa

Born December 6, 1967

Amateur record (career) as of June 15, 1996: 271-26

Southpaw stance

1984

Mch. - Demur Ivanov (Bulgaria) W pts 5-0
Olympic Ring 57kg champion; Ruse, Bulgaria.

1986

Apr. - Adalberto Regalado (Cuba) W pts
Apr. 7 - Ricardo Echevarria W rsc 2
(Cuba). Giraldo Cordova Cardin 54kg champion; Camaguey, Cuba.
Apr. - Redzep Redzepovski W ko 2
(Yugoslavia). Intercup 54kg champion; Karlsruke, West Germany.
May 8 - Jose Rodriguez (Puerto Rico) W rsc 1
May 12 - Marcelica Tudoriu (Romania) W pts 4-1
May 14 - John Lovey (Ireland) W pts 5-0
May 18 - Moon Sung-Kil (South Korea) L pts 2-3
World 54kg semifinalist; Reno, Nevada, USA. Moon “won the bout after battering Mesa in the second round. Moon landed more than 20 unanswered punches to the head as he pushed the game Mesa to the ropes. Referee Gerd Graf of West Germany only stepped in with a standing eight-count when Mesa stumbled forward. Mesa won the third round with his jabbing and moving, but was unable to overcome Moon’s lead” (Reno [Nevada] Gazette-Journal 5-17-86:3).
Sept. 18 - Roberto Real W rsc 3
(Argentina). American Brotherhood Tournament 60kg champion; Mendoza, Argentina.
Sept. 24 - Jose Cuellar W pts
Cuba vs. Argentina; Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sept. - Enrique Carrion (Cuba) W pts
Simon Bolivar Tournament 57kg champion; Caracas, Venezuela.
Dec. 18 - Derek Little W pts 3-0
Cuba vs. USA; Sacramento, California, USA.

1987

Feb. 1 - Enrique Carrion (Cuba) W pts
Playa Giron 54kg champion; Holguin, Cuba.
June - Galvez Cetarian (Soviet W pts
June - Jesus Sollet (Cuba) W pts 3-2
Giraldo Cordova Cardin 57kg champion; Santa Clara, Cuba.
Aug. 13 - Omar Catari (Venezuela) W pts 5-0
Aug. 16 - Kelcie Banks (USA) L pts 2-3
Pan American Games 57kg quarterfinalist; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Banks “was knocked down in the first round, but rallied to beat Mesa. Banks scored well with combinations in the final two rounds for a 3-2 decision” (Del Rio [Texas] News-Herald 8-17-87:13). The decision was controversial, however. One judge scored all three rounds for Mesa; two judges scored all three rounds for Banks; a fourth voted for Banks, and the fifth voted for Mesa (Santa Fe [New Mexico] New Mexican 8-17-87:13).
Aug. - Emilio Villegas W rsc 2
(Dominican Republic). North American 57kg champion; Toronto, Canada.
Oct. - Darren Hiles W pts 5-0
(Australia)
Oct. - Mikhail Kazarian (Soviet W pts 3-2
Union)
Oct. 31 - Dragan Konovalou W pts 4-1
(Yugoslavia). World Cup 57kg champion; Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Dec. 12 - Kelcie Banks W pts 5-0
Cuba vs. USA; Santa Clara, Cuba.

1988

Jan. 26 - Jesus Sollet (Cuba) W pts 5-0
Playa Giron 57kg champion; Sancti Spiritus, Cuba.
Mch. - Grzegorz Jablonski W pts 5-0
(Poland)
Mch. - H. Ha Tae (North Korea) W pts 5-0
Grand Prix 57kg champion; Usti, Czech Republic.
Apr. - Zoltan Kalocsai W pts 5-0
(Hungary). Gee-Bee 57kg champion; Helsinki, Finland.
Apr. 30 - Carl Daniels W pts 3-0
Cuba vs. USA; Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
June - Roberto Abreu (Cuba) W pts
June - Eddy Suarez (Cuba) W pts 5-0
Giraldo Cordova Cardin (Cuba) 57kg champion; Las Tunas, Cuba.
July - Diego Drumm (East W pts 5-0
(Germany). TSC 57kg champion; East Berlin, East Germany.
Oct. - Alberto Ramirez W rsc 2
(Dominican Republic). Central American and Caribbean 57kg champion; Guatemala City, Guatemala.

1989

Jan. 31 - Arsenio Vidal (Cuba) W pts 5-0
Playa Giron 57kg champion; Guantanamo, Cuba.
Feb. - Timofei Skriabin (Moldovo) W pts 5-0 AIBA World Challenge Match 57kg champion; Casablanca, Morocco.
June - Enrique Fonseca (Cuba) W pts
June - Eddy Suarez (Cuba) W pts
Giraldo Cordova Cardin 57kg champion; Pinar del Rio, Cuba.
June - Grzegorz Jablonski (Poland) W rsc 2
June - Kirkov Kirkorov (Bulgaria) L pts 2-3
Eastern Military 57kg finalist; Sliven, Bulgaria.
Sept. 19 - Yutaka Hayashida (Japan) W rsc 1
Sept. 24 - Joerg Heidenreich (East W pts 26-13
Germany)
Sept. - Djamel Lifa (France) W rsc 3
Sept. 28 - Airbat Khamatov (Soviet L pts 12-14
Union). World 57kg semifinalist; Moscow, Soviet Union.

1990

Jan. 18 - Eddy Suarez (Cuba) W pts 64-48
Playa Giron 57kg champion; Cienfuegos, Cuba.
June - Rao Srinivas (Indonesia) W pts
June - Omar Gonzalez (Cuba) W rsc 3
Giraldo Cordova Cardin 57kg champion; Granma, Cuba.
June - Kirkor Kirkorov (Bulgaria) W pts 31-9
June - Marko Rudolph (East W pts 14-4
Germany)
June - Eddy Suarez (Cuba) W pts 14-8
World Cup 57kg champion; Havana, Cuba.

1991

xxxx - W
King’s Cup Tournament 57kg champion; Bangkok, Thailand.
Mch. 9 - Raiman Boonthom W pts 34-30
(Thailand). AIBA World Challenge Match 57kg champion; Bangkok, Thailand.
June - Eddy Suarez (Cuba) L pts 18-20
Giraldo Cordova Cardin 57kg finalist; Sancti Spiritus, Cuba.
Aug. 7 - Jose Martinez (Puerto W
Rico).
xxxx - Michael Strange W pts
(Canada)
Aug. 15 - Rogelio De Brito W pts 18-3
(Brazil)
Aug. 18 - Kenneth Friday W pts 15-2
(USA). Pan American 57kg champion; Havana, Cuba.
Nov. - Andrey Chebotarev (Soviet W pts 20-8
Union)
Nov. - Reijo Vuorinen (Finland) W rsc 3
Nov. - Andreas Tews (East W pts 17-13
Germany)
Nov. 20 - Park Duk-Kyu ( South L pts 15-16
Korea). World 57kg semifinalist; Sydney, Australia. “Referee Sretin Jabucanin of Yugoslavia warned Mesa for slapping. The warning carried a three-point penalty and cost Mesa the fight” (Pacific Stars and Stripes 11-22-91:23).

1992

Jan. - Norge Gonzalez (Cuba) W pts

Jan. 29 - Joel Casamayor (Cuba) W pts
Playa Giron 57kg champion; Pinar del Rio, Cuba.
Mch. 14 - Ivan Robinson (USA) W pts 21-9
AIBA World Challenge Match 57kg champion; Tampa, Florida, USA.
xxxx - Joel Casamayor (Cuba) W
Giraldo Cordova Cardin 57kg champion; Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

1995

Jan. - Mario Kindelan (Cuba) W pts
Jan. 13 - Enrique Fonseca (Cuba) L pts
Playa Giron 57kg finalist; Granma, Cuba.
Feb. - Luciano Ramirez W
(Dominican Republic)
Feb - Mario Kindelan (Cuba) L pts 0-3
Giraldo Cordova Cardin 57kg finalist; Matanzas, Cuba.
Mch. 18 - Diego Corrales (USA) W pts 18-3
Mesa “picked apart an inexperienced Corrales” (Pacific Stars and Stripes [Tokyo, Japan] 3-21-95:23).
Mch. - Jose Valbuena W pts 7-2
(Venezuela)
Mch. - Cristian Rodriguez W pts 8-3
(Argentina)
Mch. - Alexander Trujillo W pts 12-2
(Puerto Rico). Pan Amerian Games 57kg champion; Mar Del Plato, Argentina.
May - Bakhtiyar Tileganov W pts 10-5
(Kazakhstan)
May - Claude Chinon (France) W pts 5-1
May - Serafim Todorov L pts 5-7
(Bulgaria). World 57kg semifinalist; Berlin, Germany.
July 8 - Lorenzo Aragon L pts 4-9
(Cuba). Cuban National Challenge Match 57kg finalist; Havana, Cuba.
Sept. - Daniel Seda Gutierrez W pts 3-0
(Puerto Rico)
Sept. - Luis Jose (Dominican W pts 6-4
Republic). Concebaba 57kg champion; Mexico City, Mexico.
Nov. - Jesus Vega W pts 3-0
Cuba vs. USA; Ledyard, Connecticut, USA.

1996

Feb. - Artur Grigorian W pts 5-2
(Armenia)
Feb. - Serdar Yagli (Turkey) W pts 7-4
Feb. - Toni Naskovski (MKD) W pts 5-4
Feb. 19 - Serafim Todorov L pts 2-10
(Bulgaria). Strandzata 57kg finalist; Sofia, Bulgaria.
Feb. 25 - Maciej Zekan (Poland) L pts 3-6
Grand Prix 57kg finalist; Usti, Czech Republic.
Mch. 1 - Jakob Shmuel (Israel) W pts 8-3
Mch. 2 - Falk Huste (Germany) L pts 1-7
Chemie Pokal 57kg finalist; Halle, Germany.
May - Julio Chacon W rsc 3
(Argentina)
May - Rogelio De Brito W pts 11-0
(Brazil)
May - Metgihoud Noureddine W pts 4-1
(Algeria). Giraldo Cordova Cardin 57kg champion; Pinar del Rio, Cuba.
July 20 - John Larbi (Sweden) W pts 19-5
Mesa “used his speed to dominate Larbi” (Annapolis [Maryland] Capital 7-21-96:C-4).
July 26 - Zahir Raheem (USA) W rsc 1
Raheem “was knockd down by a lef hand and then stopped by Mesa with 45 seconds left in the first roound” (Huntingdon [Pennsylvania] 7-26- 96:4).
July 30 - Rachid Bouatia (France) W pts 15-8
Aug. 1 - Raimkul Malakhbekov W pts 14-14
(Russia). Mesa “struggled against Malakhbekov. The computer score was 14-14, but Mesa won the tiebreaker 75-73” (Doylestown [Pennsylvania] Daily Intelligencer 8-2-96:B-5).
Aug. 3 - Istvan Kovacs (Hungary) L pts 7-14
Olympic 54kg finalist; Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Mesa “was outboxed by counter-punching Kovacs, who was awarded a 14-7 decision. Kovacs clinched he match by building an 11-4 lead after two rounds” (Alton [Illinois] Telgraph 8-4-96:40).
Nov. - Linas Mislunas (Lithuania) W pts 11-0
Nov. - Mehmet Erarslan (Denmark) L pts 9-10
Copenhagen Cup 60kg finalist; Copenhagen, Denmark.

1997

Jan. - Aldo Moreno (Cuba) W pts
Feb. 5 - Lorenzo Aragon (Cuba) L pts
Playa Giron 60kg finalist; Holguin, Cuba.
Feb. - Araik Sachbazjan (Czech L pts 6-7
Republic). Grand Prix 60kg semifinalist; Usti, Czech Republic.
Mch. - Heiko Hinz (Germany) L pts
Chemie Pokal 60kg semifinalist; Halle, Germany.

Information courtesy of amateur boxing historians Matt Mizerski and Santiago Nieva.

[williefromrichmond]

Mesa "had to lose 6 pounds in 3 weeks to fight at the 119-pound bantamweight level [in the 1996 Olympics]. He replaced Joel Casamayor, the Cuban gold medalist in Barcelona [in 1992], who defected ... in late June."

[williefromrichmond]

New Bouts For Arnaldo Mesa Courtesy of Santiago Nieva


1984
Cordova Cardin
57 kg
13/ -M. Brook, GUA W Walk Over
14/ -Jesus Sollet, CUB L 0-5

1986
Playa Giron
57 kg
-Julio Gonzalez, CUB L 0-5

Cordova Cardin
54 kg Gold
01/04 -Francis Kwadey, GHA W RSC 3
03/04 -Akeem Anifowoshe, NGR W RSCH 2
05/04 -Adalberto Regalado, CUB W 3-2
07/04 -Ricardo Echevarria, CUB W RSC 2

1987
Playa Giron
54 kg Gold
21/01 -Idalberto Martin, CUB W RSC 2
24/01 -Marcelino Buides, CUB W RET 1
26/01 -Daniel Lobaina, CUB W 5-0
28/01 -Angel Moya, CUB W 4-1
30/01 -Enrique Carrion, CUB W 4-1

Cordova Cardin
57 kg Gold
28/05 –Emilio Villegas, DOM W RET 3
31/05 –Rene Pedroso, CUB W 5-0
02/06 –Camvel Galdian, URS W RET 3
04/06 –Ike Quartey, GHA W 5-0
06/06 –Jesus Sollet, CUB W 3-2

1988
Playa Giron
57 kg Gold
15/01 -Antonio Roman, CUB W 5-0
19/01 -Victor Hernandez, CUB W RSC 3
21/01 -Eduardo Vidal, CUB W 5-0
24/01 -Enrique Fonseca, CUB W 5-0
26/01 -Jesus Sollet, CUB W 5-0

Grand Prix Usti
57 kg Gold
23/03 -Namjil Bayarsaikhan, MGL W PTS
24/03 –Diego Drumm, GDR W 5-0
25/03 –Grzegorz Jablonski, POL W 5-0
27/03 –Hwa-Tae Ha, PRK W 5-0

Cordova Cardin
57 kg Gold
26/06 –Sandor Marosi, HUN W RSC 2
27/06 –Anthony Konyegwachie, NGR W 5-0
29/06 –Emilio Villegas, DOM W KO 1
30/06 –Ramon Ledon, CUB W 5-0
02/07 –Eddy Suarez, CUB W 5-0

1989
Playa Giron
57 kg Gold
23/01 -Elvis Ponares, CUB W RET 3
25/01 -Enrique Fonseca, CUB W KO 1
27/01 -Hector Garcia, CUB W RSCH 1
29/01 -Segundo Ramos, CUB W RSCH 1
31/01 -Arsenio Vidal, CUB W 5-0

Cordova Cardin
57 kg Gold
27/05 –Thomas Seiler, FRG W 5-0
30/05 –Rene Pedroso, CUB W Walk Over
01/06 – Enrique Fonseca, CUB W PTS
03/06 –Eddy Suarez, CUB W PTS

1990
Playa Giron
57 kg Gold
10/01 –Juan Geralde Vargas, CUB W RSCH 2
12/01 -Enrique Fonseca, CUB W 28-12
13/01 -Hector Garcia, CUB W 43-27
16/01 –Rolando Castellano, CUB W RSCH 5
18/01 –Eddy Suarez, CUB W 64-48

Cordova Cardin
57 kg Gold
27/05 –Manuel Martinez, CUB W 24-13
29/05 –Rolando Castellanos, CUB W RET 1
31/06 – Srinivas Rao, IND W RET 2
02/06 –Omar Gonzalez, CUB W RSC 3

1991
Playa Giron
57 kg Quarter-finalist
18/01 –Orestes Quijano, CUB W 19-2
20/01 -Hector Garcia, CUB W 19-12
22/01 –Eddy Suarez, CUB L 32-27

Cordova Cardin
57 kg Silver
12/05 –Robert Lukanga, UGA W 16-8
14/05 –Norge Gonzalez, CUB W 17-3
16/06 –Segundo Ramos, CUB W 8-4
18/06 –Eddy Suarez, CUB L 18-20

1992
Playa Giron
57 kg Gold
19/01 –Luis Casanova, CUB W RSC 2
22/01 –Miguel Martinez, CUB W 28-5
24/01 –Norberto Montalvo, CUB W RSC 2
26/01 –Norge Gonzalez, CUB W RSCH 4
28/01 –Joel Casamayor, CUB W 13-9

Cordova Cardin
57 kg Gold
23/05 –Victoriano Sosa, DOM W 19-2
25/05 –Joel Casamayor, CUB W 8-7

1995
Playa Giron
57 kg Silver
04/01 –Javier Montero, CUB W RET 1
06/01 –Norge Gonzalez, CUB W RSC 2
07/01 –Yoandris Reyes, CUB W 7-1
10/01 –Mario Kindelan, CUB W 3-2
12/01 –Enrique Fonseca, CUB L 8-9

Cordova Cardin
57 kg Silver
13/05 –Everton Forrest, JAM W RSC 1
16/05 –Luciano Ramirez, DOM W 22-0
18/05 –Mario Kindelan, CUB L 0-3

1996
Playa Giron
57 kg
22/01 –Oscar Jardines Torres, CUB W 8-2
24/01 –Alexis Reve Vistel, CUB L DQ 2

Strandja tournament
-Artur Gevorgyan, ARM 5-2 (Not Artur Grigorian, he was already pro by then)

1997
Playa Giron
60 kg Silver
29/01 –Lazaro Almiral, CUB W RSC 2
31/01 –Isidro Fernandez, CUB W 10-1
03/02 –Aldo Moreno, CUB W 5-1
05/02 –Lorenzo Aragon, CUB W 5-12

Chemie Pokal
60 kg Bronze
06/03 Kay Huste, GER W 9-4
07/03 Heiko Hinz, GER L 6-12

1999
Playa Giron Quarter-finalist
57 kg
22/01 –Andres De Arma, CUB W 9-2
25/01 –Exer Rodriguez, CUB W 17-5
26/01 –Armando Bauza, CUB L WO