BoxRec

Seem to remember this idea being discussed a while back but now it's going to happen - which can only be good news.

Duncan Mackay
Wednesday November 15, 2006
The Guardian

Mario Kindelán, the man who beat Amir Khan for the Olympic gold medal in the lightweight final in Athens in 2004, will move to Liverpool to help coach Britain's fighters for the 2012 Games. He is one of two Cubans, the other as yet unnamed, signed up by the Amateur Boxing Association for the next three years.

"Cuba's influence stretches around the globe," said Paul King, the ABA's chief executive. "They have been recognised as the leading light in amateur boxing for decades. There are 178 countries affiliated to AIBA and 56 have Cuban coaches."

Kindelán has a sister in Carlisle and hopes to extend his contract beyond 2010 and up to the Olympics. He was one of the best lightweights in amateur history, also winning gold in Sydney 2000 and claiming three consecutive world championships, but officially he never earned a penny because of Cuba's refusal to allow its boxers to turn professional.

It is unclear how the ABA is funding the appointments because it is being denied more than £4.6m by UK Sport because the government agency is in dispute with it over its 2012 plans. But the ABA did sign a £200,000 deal with the Royal Navy last week to develop youth boxing.

Kindelán, 35, is to arrive in January. He will work with the top young fighters and head a recruitment drive which King hopes will see another 25,000 take up the sport before the London Games. There are currently 12,000 registered amateur boxers in England.

Two other Cubans, Alberto Perez and Alberto Gonzalez, who between them have coached three Olympic champions, were brought over this year by Glen McCrory, the former IBF cruiserweight champion, to work in his Newcastle gym

Great, he can show them How Not To Fight or How To Throw A Fight Semi-Convincingly as he did in his third fight with Amir Khan.

Another gift to the british amateur system, thanks Mario!!

overhand_right wrote:Great, he can show them How Not To Fight or How To Throw A Fight Semi-Convincingly as he did in his third fight with Amir Khan.

Another gift to the british amateur system, thanks Mario!!

Well i'll forgive him that, Mario is a double olympic champion, so deserves respect.
Hope he can bring something into the British amatuers, the one thing that the Am's over here will never has is the same hunger to win that the cubans have.

I can't see him contributing too much since he doesn't even speak English.

Why would a Cuban want to help out the UK..?

V.odd.

overhand_right wrote: Why would a Cuban want to help out the UK..?

££££££££££££££££££

But he's a communist!!!!!!!! ££££££ supposedly means nowt to him!!!

Will he give it back to the Cuban government?

Otherwise, looks like Mario does have a price.... very interesting......

*flashbacks of strange non-effort v Khan*

In Cuba all people are equal, but some are more equal than others.

F*ck me , for years people have been moaning about the training given to british amateurs, now for once the ABA have decided to try foreign coaches, of course as a double olympic champion Kindelin would have picked up nothing, and has no idea how to train for a boxing match.

So what if he's getting paid, what did you expect a coach to do? live off fresh air?

Don't all slag him off before he's had a chance.

But you are not allowed to put things in the body in this country like the Cubans do to become good fighters. Plus most of them by the age of 25 couldnt pass an M R I scan

Scrap wrote:But you are not allowed to put things in the body in this country like the Cubans do to become good fighters. Plus most of them by the age of 25 couldnt pass an M R I scan

Well most of these boxers from Cuba compete and win medals in all of the major competitions, and get drug tested. Not heard of any wide scale doping scandals, do you have any proof that Cuba does this ?

I assume Kindelan must now speak English, he has known about this potential setup since his final 'fight' with Khan. It was talked about back then.

overhand_right wrote:I can't see him contributing too much since he doesn't even speak English.

Why would a Cuban want to help out the UK..?

V.odd.

Ireland had a Cuban coach for many years (his name escapes me) and he certainly helped them when it came to Olympic success.

What bothers me is reading the strife between the ABA and UK Sport, leading to £4.6m being withheld. What is all that about exactly? Anyone?? Typical in-fighting between tossers which will lead to the sport losing out.

I just know the 2012 Olympics are going to be one big bloody embarrassment. In ALL sports. I couldn’t believe that the f**king Treasury is demanding all that VAT money off the Olympic committee. Are they deliberately trying to screw the country over when the eyes of the entire world will be on us?

The Olympic stadium will probably end up like the new Wembley.

TerribleTerry wrote:

overhand_right wrote:I can't see him contributing too much since he doesn't even speak English.

Why would a Cuban want to help out the UK..?

V.odd.

Ireland had a Cuban coach for many years (his name escapes me) and he certainly helped them when it came to Olympic success.

Nicholas Cruz, I think

Ulysses wrote:

TerribleTerry wrote:

overhand_right wrote:I can't see him contributing too much since he doesn't even speak English.

Why would a Cuban want to help out the UK..?

V.odd.

Ireland had a Cuban coach for many years (his name escapes me) and he certainly helped them when it came to Olympic success.

Nicholas Cruz, I think

Bang on the money as always Ulysses!

Topper I thought it was pretty well known I first heard about it 20 years ago. You dont think for one minute they get tested in Cuba

There was a news segment on Sky Sports News on the Cuban coach (Kindelan's coach anyway) coming over a training some of the kids. Glenn McCory, with his son who looks a beast (I don't mean ugly, I mean he is going to be massive). Glenn was mighty impressed... This coach got some absolute novices to perform some pretty decent sparring by the end of ONE session.

As Glenn said, some of these kids were that raw that before the session that he imagined that they had only just started.... most were pretty close to being ready for their first amateur contest by the end of it. Good stance and had good balance throwing the basics.

Balance and stance seemed to be very critical in the Cuban regime.

It is with any coach worth his salt Its called Oral stability, does Glen know a lot about Boxing then, its never occured to me that he does in my conversations with him

Scrap wrote:It is with any coach worth his salt Its called Oral stability, does Glen know a lot about Boxing then, its never occured to me that he does in my conversations with him

OK , so who would you want in charge, seeing as you know people so well?

Maybe,just maybe having Cuban coaches might enable some of our fighters to actually QUALIFY for an olympics?

Says it all really.British fighters have enough trouble qualifying let alone winning medals at the olympics.
And bringing in a guy with 2 olympic golds to help our fighters can only be a good thing IMO.
Kindelan has also had more success at the amateur world championships than Britain!

For a start theres a comunication problem plus egos will be dented. Thats a bad start it would cause a lot of problems long term. Amatuer Boxing is a closed shop always has been always will, its a bit different from the Irish way of doing things how the ABA administer. In Cuba all the senior coaches work together almost like a unit for the National cause. Over here its Im all right Jack so bollocks to everyone else, as long as my divs are all right and the mentality of it all goes down to the grass roots the fighters. Due to the coaches not comunicating things are lost, Kindelan wouldnt know what hit him, that would be a first. To get your house in order try doing it from the inside, a paint job doesnt lastanything with bad foundations anyone.

It's far too easy to be cynical about using Kindelan as a coach in the England set up.

After all there no way that the England squad will be able to replicate the Cuban system. First of all boxing is one of their top 3 national sports for starters with lots of kids with impoverished backgrounds participating at grassroots. Secondly the frequency and depth at which they participate is second to none. Once a kid has been identified has having the ability to be successful at International level they are trained with a single minded focus, training full time. There is a website (can't remember which one) that shows the amateur records of past and present Cuban boxers. You can see how often these guys fight both domestically and internationally. If their fighters are not fighting in international competitions abroad they are hosting invitational multi national tournaments in Cuba itself. The depth of experience their boxers gain fighting 3 or 4 or 5 times in 2 weeks sets them up for the big amateur competitions including the Olympics.

Kindelan will be used to pass on his experience of training methods and technique. However, I would have thought most of these methods were well known by now. Anyhow it can only enhance the squad training programme having someone like Kindelan around.

Scrap wrote:For a start theres a comunication problem plus egos will be dented. Thats a bad start it would cause a lot of problems long term. Amatuer Boxing is a closed shop always has been always will, its a bit different from the Irish way of doing things how the ABA administer. In Cuba all the senior coaches work together almost like a unit for the National cause. Over here its Im all right Jack so bollocks to everyone else, as long as my divs are all right and the mentality of it all goes down to the grass roots the fighters. Due to the coaches not comunicating things are lost, Kindelan wouldnt know what hit him, that would be a first. To get your house in order try doing it from the inside, a paint job doesnt lastanything with bad foundations anyone.

There is alot to be said about the fractionalised nature of British amateur boxing and people feathering their own nests.

Just look at how long Ritchie Woodhall lasted. It wasnt long before he realised he would get nowhere fast. Too political with too many people looking out for themselves, not the game as a whole.

At least, thats my reading of it from the limited knowledge I have of its workings.

Ulysses wrote:

TerribleTerry wrote:

overhand_right wrote:I can't see him contributing too much since he doesn't even speak English.

Why would a Cuban want to help out the UK..?

V.odd.

Ireland had a Cuban coach for many years (his name escapes me) and he certainly helped them when it came to Olympic success.

Nicholas Cruz, I think

Cheers, Terry!

Interestingly, one of Glen McCrory's Cuban trained boxers, Mark Clauzel, has just reached the final of the ABAs at welter.
An improvement on his performance last season. We HAVE got some great coaches on these shores but the Cubans bring a fresh approach – it should be interesting.

overhand_right wrote:But he's a communist!!!!!!!! ££££££ supposedly means nowt to him!!!

Will he give it back to the Cuban government?

Otherwise, looks like Mario does have a price.... very interesting......

*flashbacks of strange non-effort v Khan*

They will have had to have done a deal with the Cuban government, they pay the cuban government an amount for Mario's services, and they in turn give him special dispensation to go and live in the UK, and probably a salary to go with it.

why shouldn't the guy earn some money anyhow, who the hell are you to tell him he should go back to Cuba and be a good little communist?