Cuba - Are they still the best

[Dennis]

It seemed that many people thought that Cuba wouldn't do that well in Beijing. Many thought they wouldn't qualify a full team for the Olympics. Well, they didn't. They ONLY qualified 10 boxers.

Their boxers have done quite well.
They had one boxer, the SHY Robert Alfonso Acea, who lost to Glazkov in his first bout, but Glazkov is now in the semi-finals. A second boxer, Idel Torriente at 57KG lost in the quarter-finals to Imranov who looks good.

The Cuban team now has 8 boxers in the semi-finals so they are guaranteed (well almost guaranteed - if they get DQ'd for throwing the medal like the wrestler then they wouldn't get it) 8 medals.

I think they will end up with 4 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes. I think that will make them the #1 team.

What does everyone else think?

[emile]

I don't see any way they won't end up the #1 team.

[Dennis]

I don't see any way they won't end up the #1 team.

What is your prediction on their medal count, with #'s for each color.

[emile]

On the results thread, I predicted 3 gold, 2 silver. I'm definitely surprised to see guys like Laffita and Hernandez doing so well, as they've been pretty inconsistent over the last few years.

[DCAmateurBoxing]

Sure, they are the still the best, but at what cost? Here's a link to how they build their great boxers. It's called Victory is Your Duty by Director Andrew Lang and was part of PBS Documentary Series Wide Angle.

Part I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5v_lFYx ... re=related
Part 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68T3CLez ... re=related
Part 3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCcjTfN9 ... re=related
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00J8L0Zs ... re=related
Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g2criAd ... re=related

[geenolv]

The Cubans are very good but they are also loved by the judges who score a lot more of their punches then anyone but the Chinese.

[Dennis]

So if you are competing against them, do what Leon Spinks did and knock them out.

[Dennis]

Knockouts won't come when the boxers are only throwing about 30-40 punches per round. That is pathetic. They should be throwing about 100 punches per round.

[therealPunchDrunk]

Up the score again, that will add incentive to throw punches. I actually really liked the style that promoted as short as two years ago.

[boxmel]

The Cubans are very good but they are also loved by the judges who score a lot more of their punches then anyone but the Chinese

They weren't loved by the judges in the 51 and 75 kg gold medal bouts.

[Dennis]

I don't think they received any gifts in the semi-final and final rounds.

[JMac]

How did these 3 Cuban boxers end up in Ireland? The attached article says they were all Jr World champs. Did they defect?

http://www.secondsout.com/UK/news.cfm?ccs=228&cs=28359

[boxmel]

Must have defected - but very quietly or they weren't considered elite athletes in Cuba? Alexei Acosta beat Luis Yanez in semis and Luis Garcia beat Shawn Porter in quarters in the 2006 Junior Worlds. Mike Perez must have competed in the 2005 Junior Worlds in England.

[locoxelbox]

The cubans didn´t win any gold medals in Beijing and they are clearly not as strong as before BUT they did win by far most medals, 8 out of 10 boxers reached the semi-finals. They did have four boxers in the finals and with a little luck they could´ve had two gold medalists in Yordenis Ugas and Rosniel Iglesias who were extremely unfortunate to lose their bouts in the semis. Also Emilio Correa could´ve end up as a gold medalist had he not gone crazy and bit his opponent in the final.
They did beat Russia 2-1 in their meetings and I´d say they are still No 1 as showed in the team competition http://www.aiba.org/documents/site1/Olympics/C95N.pdf Cuba winning with 30 pts, China second with 28 pts and Russia third with 23 pts.

Regarding the defected cubans: Ismaikel Perez was a 2004 World Junior champion. The other two won in 2006. However neither of them were No 1 at the moment they left. While it´s true Luis Garcia did beat Emilio Correa 13:3 at the National Challenge Match in 2007 it wasn´t the last time they met. Correa had his revenge at the final of the 2007 Cordova Cardin tournament winning 16-8. Garcia was then out due to injury for a while and returned this year at 81 kg losing to veteran Yordanis Despaigne 8:4.
Also Alexei Collado has lost to Laffita, Yoandry Salinas and Yorman Rodriguez so his claim at being No 1 is slightly exaggerated.
Anyway they are world class boxers, potential olympic medalists, who if they train serious and are guided right probably will end up winning some world title.

[boxmel]

Anyway they are world class boxers, potential olympic medalists, who if they train serious and are guided right probably will end up winning some world title.

Are you saying they didn't defect, are boxing for Cuba and training in Ireland?

[JMac]

locoxelbox wrote:

Regarding the defected cubans: Ismaikel Perez was a 2004 World Junior champion. The other two won in 2006. However neither of them were No 1 at the moment they left. While it´s true Luis Garcia did beat Emilio Correa 13:3 at the National Challenge Match in 2007 it wasn´t the last time they met. Correa had his revenge at the final of the 2007 Cordova Cardin tournament winning 16-8. Garcia was then out due to injury for a while and returned this year at 81 kg losing to veteran Yordanis Despaigne 8:4.
Also Alexei Collado has lost to Laffita, Yoandry Salinas and Yorman Rodriguez so his claim at being No 1 is slightly exaggerated.
Anyway they are world class boxers, potential olympic medalists, who if they train serious and are guided right probably will end up winning some world title.

Thanks for the explanation. Do you know if they defected together, had a promoter waiting, etc?

[locoxelbox]

Are you saying they didn't defect, are boxing for Cuba and training in Ireland?

When I said potential Olympic medalists, I meant they have the level to win a medal at the Olympics (if they had been chosen to fight for the cuban team). I don´t know if they defected but I guess they did. Some cuban boxers that are fighting professional haven´t defected, like Jose Izquierdo and others but I don´t think this was the case.

[boxmel]

Thanks, Lo - I would guess they defected since the Castro's don't allow pro boxing.

[JMac]

I was told by people with the England ABA that they have hired Mario Kindelan to be a coach for them.