Cuban stars escape to turn pro!
Three Olympic gold medalists disappear in Venezuela
By Robert Coster
Cuban amateur boxing stars Yan Barthelemy (light flyweight), Yuriorkis Gamboa (flyweight) and Odlanier Solis (heavyweight), all of them Olympic gold medalists in their in the 2004 Athens , have reportedly deserted the Cuban national team in a drive to try their luck in the pro ranks. The powerful Cuban team had been training in Venezuela in view preparing for the Pan American 2007 and the trio opted to escape from the ever present vigilance of Cuban security and coaches. Their whereabouts is still unknown. The most sought of the three amateur standouts should no doubt be heavyweight Odlanier Solis who can boast three world amateur titles to his lofty record. Other Cubans who deserted and joined the pro ranks over the past years were Joel Casamayor, Diobelis Hurtado, Juan Carlos Gomez, Jorge Luis Gonzalez and Ramon Garbey, with Casamayor and Gomez having won world titles in the pro ranks.
With the question of whether or not Savon would beat Lewis, the answer is a definite no. One thing everyone needs to keep in mind is that in the amateur ranks, the heavyweight division is 201 lbs and under. So Savon was only the size of a professional cruiserweight. 201 lbs and over in the amateur is the superheavyweight division. I'm sure that Savon could have bulked up to 225 ish, but when he is lacking the natural size and strength agains Lewis, plus considering that Lewis also had a great amateur background and was extremely skillful, I would be strongly inclined to think that Lewis would win.
But if you guys are wondering how good Solis is, he actually beat Savon when he was only 19 years old to win the national Cuban championship. They sent Savon to the 2000 olympics anyways though because he was going to make history with his third gold medal. This guy is an excellent prospect, although once again, we have to keep in mind that his success has been at the amateur heavyweight division, not superheavyweight. He could bulk up and be extremely successful (like Holyfield), but we'll see.
So I have read........Hopefully something good will happen when he does.The people have to revolt or rather than fucking with people in the middle east we could use some of our resources to help our neighbors get from under a brutal dictatorship similar to Saddams was.
They're both dictators but Saddam was way more brutal. No comparison there.
i wish Felix Savon would have turned pro... do you guys think he would have beat Lewis?
Savon was knocked out numerous times as an amatuer and I don't think he had the chin to compete as a pro. Roberto Balodo who died in a wreck in Cuba was the best Heavyweight threat if he turned pro imo. With Venezuela president Chavez wanting to go to a socialist economy will the Venezuelan fighter even fight anymore soon.
Judging from reports, he is in negotiations to buy the farm soon.
So I have read........Hopefully something good will happen when he does.The people have to revolt or rather than fucking with people in the middle east we could use some of our resources to help our neighbors get from under a brutal dictatorship similar to Saddams was.