If Cuba was not under Communist control how different would boxing be?

Based on how Cuba looked before communism. Do you see how Cuba was the fourth nation to participate at the Olympics? They established with Mexico central american and caribbean games? They where already one of the most disciplined and civilized countries in latin america and didnt have to deal with the indian tribes unlike argentines, brazilians, etc. Lets not forget all the contributions they made like Puerto Rico's Ron Bacardi that came from there. Every other country was battling each other in Civil Wars except Cuba who was battling Spain for independence (and then the US). I agree with you but I wouldn't go as far as saying that they would be a top 3 Latin American economy. Not with countries the size of Brazil , Mexico and Argentina. I think Cuba would have probably suffered from the same corruption that all Latin American countries have suffered from.

Based on what exactly? You have no way of possibly knowing that. Not too mention the exploitation of America would have been tremendous. At best they would have been a tourist island with casino's and the likes, where a small percentage of rich would keep the vast majority of wealth. Look at other present day Caribbean islands. Cuba would not be much different. Cuba has many problems and the embargo's placed upon them has retarded their growth as well as the collapse of the soviet union was a massive blow, but it's impossible to know if they are better or worse off. What we do know is the standard of living in Cuba increased compared to pre-revolution, especially under Batista. Based on how Cuba looked before communism. Do you see how Cuba was the fourth nation to participate at the Olympics? They established with Mexico central american and caribbean games? They where already one of the most disciplined and civilized countries in latin america and didnt have to deal with the indian tribes unlike argentines, brazilians, etc. Lets not forget all the contributions they made like Puerto Rico's Ron Bacardi that came from there. Every other country was battling each other in Civil Wars except Cuba who was battling Spain for independence (and then the US).

Cuba is the largest Caribbean nation both in terms of land area and population. Really if they never went communist Cuba could be a very wealthy country, it had very close US ties so if they played their cards right their contry could be in totally different spot although I am sure they would always produce some boxers, I just think they would produce many more baseball players than boxers under such a scenario. If they switched tomorrow, they would produce a fuck ton of boxers for a long time.

it's quite possible Cuba would have been worse off. We obviously have no way of knowing though. Since 1950 most latin american countries the standard of living decreased, often dramatically. Cuba, while still poor, is one of the few countries that the standard of living actually increased. Latin america as a whole has been raped by imperialism and has been devastated. Cuba would be a Top 3 Latin American country in terms of economy. Cuba was one of the places the brightest spaniards came, along with Nuevo España (México) and La Plata (Argentina). Its tough to see Cuba be one of the poorest countries. Hell if there where at least 2 or 3 communist countries in America and an embargo never existed, cubans wouldnt have the problems they do now.

If Cuba wasnt communist they wouldnt have the amount of Boxers they do. The whole point was to breed Olympians to win medals and they built aton of gyms and paid good money for medals and fighters to train. Oh and Cuba would be a complete mess if it wasnt communist (see Haiti) Another moron, Haiti? You don't know crap...

without communism Cuba would be a country like El Salvador, drugs, gangs, murders, rape and you could go on. You are a moron, Cuba was not born communist and we were la Perla DE las Antillas, do your homework ignorant piece of $h1t...

youd see cuban champions spread across the world like alexander over persia.

They'd def be one of the top contributors to the sport. I mean they kind of already are just not to the level of USA, Mexico and PR. I could def see a Cuba-PR rivalry. Braggin' rights for the Caribbean! Quien manda en el Caribe! Here's to hoping Communism dies in Cuba! To all my Cubanos...Cuba Libre!

If Cuba wasnt communist theyd be good at pro boxing, a bit better than Puerto Rico with around 60-70 champions by now. In terms of amateur, they would never be as good as they where. Look at this chart detailing Cuba's medal record at the Olympics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba_at_the_Olympics They won 11 medals in the first two games, then won 1 only in the next 6 they participated. After 1960 is when they started winning a lot under communism. The same with the Soviets, where winning at least 90 medals was normal, now Russia can barely get to 90 total medals.

without communism Cuba would be a country like El Salvador, drugs, gangs, murders, rape and you could go on. nah, it would be a bigger version of puerto rico

While i do agree that the communist regime is in part responsible for the Cubans success in the amateur game i do also think that its important to note that there are 5 cubans in the boxing HOF and these 5 were pre communism products. Kid chocolate, kid gavilan, Luis rodriguez, sugar ramos, and Jose napoles. So prior to communism they were churning out world class boxers at a pace per capita to be near mexico.

Cuba produce great medics too, the best of latin america, all children are in school, infant mortality is lower than the US. They have tough years when URSS lost the cold war, but we can only imagine what Cuba would be if the USA let Cuba grow. (mostly Cubans in Miami who support the block, are killing their country and their brothers) life expectancy is 78.8 years, one of the highest of the world. They dont have apple gadgets or 200$ sneakers, and really have problems providing meat for their population, but there are great success on Cuba on a lot of areas, not just boxing or baseball. USA provide soldiers and weapons all over the world, while Cuba provide doctors all over the world. Well said, there is a huge amount of misinformation regarding Cuba and if it wasnt for Americas illegal embargo it would be in a better state than it is now. Drive through some parts of America and you will of course see some terrible poverty and homelessness, if your sick and cant afford insurance you will die, if your smart but cant afford to pay for higher education you will be denied the right to further yourself. In Cuba healthcare (which is some of the best in the carribean) and university education is free to all. Going off subject here but you get my point, this is a subject where people will always dissagree

Cuba produce great medics too, the best of latin america, all children are in school, infant mortality is lower than the US. They have tough years when URSS lost the cold war, but we can only imagine what Cuba would be if the USA let Cuba grow. (mostly Cubans in Miami who support the block, are killing their country and their brothers) life expectancy is 78.8 years, one of the highest of the world. They dont have apple gadgets or 200$ sneakers, and really have problems providing meat for their population, but there are great success on Cuba on a lot of areas, not just boxing or baseball. USA provide soldiers and weapons all over the world, while Cuba provide doctors all over the world.

If Cuba wasnt communist they wouldnt have the amount of Boxers they do. The whole point was to breed Olympians to win medals and they built aton of gyms and paid good money for medals and fighters to train. Oh and Cuba would be a complete mess if it wasnt communist (see Haiti)

Imagine if integrity could be used as currency in the US when its time to buy food or pay your mortgage. not so much of a problem when you don't have a mortgage and are guaranteed a basic diet for as good as free. oh, it's not like that in the US...?! it is in Cuba...

Teofilio Stevenson was once offered a seven figure sum to defect in the seventies by Don King, he famously said he'd rather have the love of millions of Cubans than millions of dollars. Integrity. He probably had a gun to his head when he said that. :lol1:

If you change one thing in history, it will dramatically change a lot of other things. What if Cuba being what it is, is what makes their boxers so good? If Cuba wasn't communist, it would have entered the pro ranks with ease. It would be more dominant than any other island in the Caribbean IMO. I think the base of amateur boxing is what has made Cuba great but the transition to the pro's would have been very easy for a country that bleeds boxing and athletics like Cuba does.

Great place yet horrible at the same time... if you lived there like I did. But we find ways to manage tho. What was so bad about it?

Imagine if every boxer fought with that mind set and love... Imagine if integrity could be used as currency in the US when its time to buy food or pay your mortgage. EIther way professional boxing would be better off if you had very talented cuban fighters, especially if they are willing to fight for substantially less money. Of course if they fight the amatuer style, points over KO's, you'd have a number of people complaining aboutthe lack of drama in the ring.

Communism is a large part of Cuba's success in several sports like boxing and baseball Its a way out