Nicolas Cruz Hernandez

Name: Nicolas Cruz Hernandez
Birth Name: Nicolás Cruz Hernandez
Hometown: Portlaoise, Ireland

Before becoming a world-class coach, Nicolás Cruz Hernandez graduated from university as a Professor of Sports Science and trained as a cadet in the Cuban army. He also represented Cuba as a light heavyweight boxer, but his dream of competing at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles was shattered when Cuba boycotted the Games.

Instead, Nicolás turned to coaching. In 1988, he arrived in Ireland on loan from Cuba to prepare Irish boxers for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. He made an immediate impact, introducing innovative concepts to Irish boxing, including sports psychology, meditation, and advanced Cuban techniques. His methods proved transformative. At the 1992 Summer Olympics, he guided Michael Carruth to gold and Wayne McCullough to silver—both facing Cuban opponents in their respective finals. Despite Ireland’s success, Nicolás received praise from Fidel Castro, who publicly acknowledged the achievement and expressed pride that a Cuban coach had been in Ireland’s corner.

However, the Cuban Sports Council took a different view. Nicolás was not permitted to return to Ireland to prepare the team for the 1996 Summer Olympics. When he eventually made his way back to Ireland, he was effectively blacklisted and barred from returning to Cuba for many years, unable to see his family. He also could not coach the Irish team in Atlanta. During this difficult period, he slept in Dublin’s National Stadium and even swept the floors to get by. The strain led him into depression and some very dark times.

In 2000, the Irish Athletic Boxing Association secured funding to appoint Nicolás to a full-time coaching role. Years later, he moved on and took up a teaching position at Portlaoise Prison, where he delivered yoga and boxercise classes to inmates. In 2017, accompanied by close friends from the Irish boxing community, he made an emotional return to Cuba and was finally reunited with his family.

Today, Nicolás remains settled in Portlaoise. An honorary Irishman, his influence endures, and his legacy lives on in the many boxers whose lives and careers he shaped