Cuban fighters taking a lot of L's lately

Yunier Dorticos and Yunieski Gonzales also lost recently, the thing is that less Cubans are going to turn pro if they see that the ones that defect are not doing as good as they expected.I will have to disagree with you. They have done great for a country that doesn't let his athletes turn pro. Barthelemy has won two belts in different weights. Still young and growing into a bigger man. Dorticos was a Champ that loss to a better prepared fighter. you could see some fat in his belly. Rigondeaux quit against a bigger and younger fighter. After begging for fights against the best of the 122 class. frampton, quigg, st+ and mares all ran from the Cuban. Barrera has a decent enough career and he is 36 years old. Ortiz ran out of gas and had the fight won if he just had another gallon of fuel in him. Another fighter from Cuba just defected, a young one. Machado is a good fighter just like Socarras, Ramon Nicolas is really good but nobody is signing the dotted line to these young boxers. They do have to take the sport more serious. Dorticos have to lose all that fat. Hernandez and Gomez were Champs for a long time.

just heard argilagos defected in tijuana, two times world champ We will have to wait to hear more news to confirm. I was hoping for someone like Robeisy Ramirez, Andy Cruz, or Julio la Cruz instead to be honest. But Argilagos is really talented though.

just heard argilagos defected in tijuana, two times world champ

Hurd is terrible technically, I expect Lara to outbox him to an easy decision win.

A lot of their Olympic talent hasn't turned pro/defected. They had a really strong class two years back with Ramirez, Lopez, De La Cruz and Alvarez. The fighters we're seeing now aren't really the best they have to offer. Fighters like Dorticos, Ortiz and Barthelemy never made it over there. I think I read somewhere that Ortiz lost to Odlanier Solis like 5 times in the amateurs.

When Cuban boxers fight guys who are better than they are they lose just like everyone else. Wilder, Bivol and Loma are very hard for anybody to beat. Rances just isn't very good and he fought a stupid lazy fight. Lara is very good but he faces a tough champion in Hurd so I think that is an even fight.

There are some Cuban fighters right now that wouldn't make bad pros, but you know...

hopefully hurd flushes out the turd that is Lara

Their style dosen't translate well to the pros.

Cuban boxing is rich and among the best in the world in the amateurs. But thats about it.

At least the boxers representing Cuba are top notch talent and in their prime with very few exceptions. People are clamoring over Naoya Inoue and I remember years ago as an amateur he was completely outclassed by Yovany Veitia, who is the current world champ at 52 kilos but not close to being the best on the Cuban team. Right now we have Anthony Joshua who is the heavyweight champ in the world but I remember in 2012 Olympic games in London, he clearly lost every second of every round against Erislandy Savon who is the current champ at 91 kilos. Savon was robbed of course. The fight is on youtube. And Savon just like Veitia is not even close to being the best on the Cuban team. Robeisy Ramirez has beat both Shakur Stevenson and Conlan and has a style that is greatly suited for the pro game. Andy Cruz, another current world Champ at 64 kilos is still undefeated at WSB and again has a great style for the pro game. The best talent of them all, he's almost past his prime now is La Cruz who doesn't have the best style for the pro game but I can say he's even a better talent than Rigo. So again, it comes to who comes to U.S and how close they are to their prime. Ortiz used to be the whipping boy for Solis in Cuba. Barthelemy I've never head of in Cuba, I'm not sure what his background is but he's never won in Cuba. Sullivan Barrera, I know he won the gold at the world as a junior but then he never won at senior level in Cuba. Dorticos, last he fought in Cuba he lost to La Cruz at 178. Rigo, Lara and Gamboa were the best talents and while not the best suited for the pro game, they were in their prime when they came to U.S. Right now they are past it. It’s always encouraging when you have major amateur talent, but we’ve seen that it doesn’t always translate to the pros. It increases the odds of success, but it’s hard to predict who will become a real power. And, as you pointed out, some of the guys who didn’t find success in Cuba found it in the US (and elsewhere). Ramirez, who was one of the talents I most wanted to see defect, is already 24. Not too old — now — but who knows when he’ll get a chance to split? Let’s say it’s in two years. By that time he’ll have spent a large amount of time in amateur-style systems, and suffered the ensuing negative conditioning I mentioned. Then he’ll have to spend a few years adjusting to the pros and amassing a record. By then he could easily be 30. I’d really rather see our best fighting for belts a few years earlier than that, as a lot of others do.

I like Lara but there's a chance the huge and crude Hurd steamrolls him. Interesting fight, Hurd will be all over him all night marching forward.

Great post! They perform great in Cuba because they don't have the business side of things, the temptations an all of that. They just worry about the sport and they have a great teaching system. In the U.S. it's just different. Not to make excuses but that's how it is, also the fact that the ones competing here were never the best in Cuba except for Rigo and Lara and Sullivan was 36, Rigo was 36, Ortiz was 38. You get a bad batch at a bad time losing to the best fighters in the world, what are you gonna do? Good post. A lot of people here don’t have a clue as to the political situation on the island. They think Cubans can travel freely, like most other people around the world. Most of these fighters came to the US after the age of 25. Some of them already in their late prime, or past-prime. The boxers currently representing Cuba in the WSB are on the same track. That’s life...or at least Cuban life.

Too many L’s. Got me gnashing my teeth. Lol I didn’t see the fight last night but, Barthelemy, who I believed was amongst the best we currently have, by all accounts didn’t show up against Relikh. I mean, Rances is usually aggressive, but I understand he barely even threw punches. Just strange. Rigo was a complete embarrassment versus Lomo. I’d rather just forget that “fight” ever took place. Dorticos fought like a warrior, and lost against the better man in a terrific fight. Ortiz also fought valiantly and gave Wilder a real run for his money. Barrera was simply outclassed. Not much to say there. At least Sullivan always comes to fight. I’d like my boys to catch a break soon. Lol Lara is one of my least favorite Cubans. Just a boring guy to watch. Same thing over and over, and not enough activity. Yet, he’s turned out to be the most successful of the bunch. I hope he beats Hurd, but mainly because I want the bleeding to stop. My belief is that most of these Cuban fighters have simply spent too much time in the amateurs. Maybe they’re just not elite quality (aside from Gamboa and Rigo, who, despite his last appearance, was unquestionably elite). Ortiz isn’t elite. He just happens to be up there in this current heavyweight environment. But even now it’s difficult for Cuban athletes to get off the island. And fighters, who don’t have nearly the same opportunities as baseball players, have it much worse. There are some fighters remaining in Cuba that should make some noise in the pros, but they suffer from the same challenges as their predecessors: too much amateur time and advancing age. I take solace in the fact that, despite having relatively few fighters in the professional ranks, Cubans have been disproportionately represented. Our guys have managed to contend at the highest levels and grab some belts. I’m okay with that. Our fortunes will turn positive soon enough. A champion will rise....

They are losers. They were better in the 50. 60 and 70. They are only good on the amatuer level. Once they make that trip on a banana to US and get their first taste of Mcdonalds, they lose the hunger ala solis, Gamboa etc.

Will Lara be next? I don't know. But he looked frustrated in the Gausha fight whom he expected to come forward all night. The crowd was booing and wanted to see Lara go aggressive instead and execute the finishing touches. The Cuban couldn't do it.

None of these guys are exactly fresh young blood Speaking of, where is all the young Cuban talent? Do they all just stick in the ams for a while?

Cuban nerf patch finally went live.

Yunier Dorticos and Yunieski Gonzales also lost recently, the thing is that less Cubans are going to turn pro if they see that the ones that defect are not doing as good as they expected. After seeing Ortiz's house in the lead up to the Wilder fight...they'll be turning pro at record speeds. Hell I was impressed by that myself and I usually am not.

As good as Cuban boxers are, they can't escape the island with their entire team. That makes a difference. You swim straight to the States only to find yourself alone and in need of a good crew. You're not going to find it. The teachers back home are the ones who molded you into what you are and anyone else is just going to disfigure your already defined style of fighting. You need to swim back in the cover of darkness, bag your crew while they sleep, throw the bag on your back like Santa and swim back. There's no other way! Nah, I don't know