Hairon Socarras...another Cuban Prospect.

[The Underboss]

Socarras turned pro this year and he's only 18 years old. His record is 4-0 with 4 KO's. He fights at 122lbs.

His pro debut:



2nd fight



3rd fight



His 4th fight:



Your thoughts?

[-KPB-]

Castro be sending all the Afro cubans to box.......j/k

Looks good TBH....how did he manage to escape so early...or is he a American born Cuabn.....

[ИATAS]

Nice to see a very YOUNG Cuban prospect for a change.

I also like his aggressiveness. Looks like he could be entertaining.

[*Khan]

All these Cuban have got all these weird ugly names like Socarras, Yuriorkis, Yudel, Yan, Rigondeaux, Erislandy, etc.

[The Underboss]

Castro be sending all the Afro cubans to box.......j/k

Looks good TBH....how did he manage to escape so early...or is he a American born Cuabn.....

He moved to Miami at 16 (2 years ago) so he probably defected or was just claimed by his family.

It doesn't state anything about him defecting though, but he looks to be an exciting fighter. We'll have to wait and see once he steps it up.

[ИATAS]

All these Cuban have got all these weird ugly names like Socarras, Yuriorkis, Yudel, Yan, Rigondeaux, Erislandy, etc.

A lot of if it is Soviet influenced. Also I found this, good read:

Dayron. Yampier. Yankiel. Yordenis. Yulieski. Eglis. Idel. These are just some of the stranger given names to be found among the 149 athletes representing Cuba at this year's Summer Olympics in Beijing, and they spotlight a quirky custom practiced by many of the island's 11 million inhabitants: a penchant for giving newborns unusual, custom-made monikers, many of them beginning with the 25th letter of the English alphabet.

This trend goes back years. Among the gold-medal-winning pugilists of Cuba's illustrious Olympic past are heavyweight Odlanier Solís, flyweight Yuriorkis Gamboa and light flyweight Yan Barthelemy. And the phenomenon goes beyond athletics. The island's best-known antigovernment blogger is a 32-year-old philologist named Yoani Sánchez, and the parents of the once famous shipwrecked boy Elián González came up with his handle by fusing their own (Elisabeth and Juan).

[...]


the preponderance of names starting with the letter Y may reflect the contact Cubans had with Russian advisers sporting names like Yuri and Yevgeny in the years when the Soviet Union was bankrolling Castro's revolution.

Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits associate the practice with the Communist era. Suchlicki spent his formative years in pre-revolutionary Havana, and says his friends, relatives and neighbors all went by traditional, Spanish-language names. He left the island a year after Castro ousted a U.S.-backed dictator in 1959, and says the growing popularity of unconventional names among his younger countrymen came to his attention only after Castro had consolidated his grip on power. He speculates that this preference for unusual names might signify a denial on some level of the country's Spanish Roman Catholic heritage. "This may be a rejection of the Spanish past since Cuba is much more black today than it once was," he says, noting that an estimated 62 percent of all Cubans are of African descent (up from 40 percent 50 years ago)

The trend is not confined to Cuba within Latin America. Female weight lifter Yudelkis Contreras is one of 23 athletes representing the Dominican Republic in Beijing. And Venezuela's female softball team will include Yaicel Sojo and Yurubi Alicart. But no country in the region comes close to Cuba in the weird-name contest, a fact of life that has bedeviled some of the island's leading sports chroniclers. The legendary Cuban sportswriter and broadcaster Eddy Martín once claimed to have counted 400 baseball players whose given names began with the penultimate letter of the alphabet. "Yuniel, Ynieski, Yulieski, Yolexis, Yusian, Yoanni, Yumiel, Yadel, Yoneiki, Yunior, Yusded, Yinier, Yusnel," a weary Martín once told an interviewer. During live broadcasts he was sometimes known to set the stage for the next batter by muttering "And now to the plate comes another impossible name." Martín died in 2004, but he'd likely be grumbling still today, given the names of the Cuban delegation at this year's Olympics—though at least for onomastic innovation, the Cubans would certainly bring home the gold.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Thanks for posting those videos of Socarras...a couple of brutal KOs. One of the things that excites me the most about his prospects is that he's one of the few Cubans that'll evolve straight through the professional system. I've always felt that guys like Rigondeaux, Lara, etc. have been somewhat harmed by fighting in the amateurs for too long.

[CubanGuyNYC]

A lot of if it is Soviet influenced. Also I found this, good read:

Dayron. Yampier. Yankiel. Yordenis. Yulieski. Eglis. Idel. These are just some of the stranger given names to be found among the 149 athletes representing Cuba at this year's Summer Olympics in Beijing...

Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits associate the practice with the Communist era... the growing popularity of unconventional names among his younger countrymen came to his attention only after Castro had consolidated his grip on power.... The legendary Cuban sportswriter and broadcaster Eddy Martín once claimed to have counted 400 baseball players whose given names began with the penultimate letter of the alphabet. "Yuniel, Ynieski, Yulieski, Yolexis, Yusian, Yoanni, Yumiel, Yadel, Yoneiki, Yunior, Yusded, Yinier, Yusnel," a weary Martín once told an interviewer. During live broadcasts he was sometimes known to set the stage for the next batter by muttering "And now to the plate comes another impossible name." Martín died in 2004, but he'd likely be grumbling still today, given the names of the Cuban delegation at this year's Olympics—though at least for onomastic innovation, the Cubans would certainly bring home the gold.

I've never had a problem with any kind of outside influence within my own culture, but I've always found the extreme preponderance of Russian names in contemporary Cuban society rather distasteful. All those "Y"s are a little too "me too" for my taste.

[Medved]

Foking traiter, im sick of these Cuban traitors leaving their home country. They should be executed if they ever go back. This is the respect you give to dear leader?

I love visiting Cuba, been there 5 times, great country and great people, nice to see some of them speak Russian and tons of Soviet stuff left over for me to buy.

Cuba one of the last great great countries left in the world, but slowly but surely its being ruined by corporations/usa/zionists who want to make some $$$ out of a small little Island.

Dear Real Cubans who are not coward deserters, this Russian stands and supports you! We have had your backs since day one! Respect Comrades!

Dont worry these ****** deserters will get theirs, same with all the fake cubans in Miami

[The Underboss]

Interview with Hairon starts at 3:35 .