Facts About Cubans in Professional Boxing

[CubanGuyNYC]

First of all , what's up with saying "her" when addressing P.R? Not cool , but I guess you mad. Anyways , to my point.

I believe Cuban boxers are polished and over used in the am's. With a huge advantage by also not being able to turn pro which works in their favor in the Olympics. So if Cuban fighters were able to turn pro before , then all their Olympic merits and am's records wouldnt exist.

Not only that , their talent wouldnt be the same. Do you think Rigo would have captured 2 gold medals and had 350+ fights if he would have turned pro at 18 or 19. Not very likely. Do you know what 350+ fights dominating less experience fighters allow you to do. Polish the shot out of your skills. At least IMO. That's why I think these Cuban fighters are so good at being pure boxers. You never see a brawler from Cuban. Or a slow fighter without good movement. Those fighters spend years tuning and polishing their skills. Then they take them to the Olympics and capture gold against real amateurs. So you can't have it both ways.

Maybe if they were free and allowed to join the pro ranks earlier there would be more. Maybe with more heart too. And maybe you wouldn't have those gold medals.

Bro...lmao...is that a serious question? That wasn't a dig at Puerto Rico. It's customary and formal to refer to a country by the feminine, "she" or "her." One would refer to Cuba as "her" or "she." Ever hear the term "motherland?" Anyway, enough with the English lesson....

You've made some good points. You're certainly right about Olympic success. Cuba wouldn't have as many gold medals if her (lol) boxers could easily turn pro. That doesn't mean we wouldn't win any, though. It would, however, drastically cut the medal tally.

You're also correct about "polished boxing skills," and the fact that you really don't see Cuban brawlers. It's mainly as a result of all those amateur bouts. The pro style, often featuring all-out action, doesn't translate well to the amateur ranks. But, it cuts both ways. A fighter that has spent too much time in the amateurs may suffer irrevocable harm to their professional potential. In my opinion, Guillermo Rigondeaux just might be such a fighter. Rigo was an amazing amateur. He possesses great skill and talent, but he got into the pro game way late and it shows.

[CubanGuyNYC]

That's why i liked him the best of the two, he's style he makes it look easy which i'm sure it wasn't that Mongolian finals dude was a beast but once the kid figures someone out he's just fun to watch picking guys apart and enjoying it.

He's a natural, in every sense of the word. Inside the ring and out. He was very at ease out there, a baby-faced killer. I hope he makes it out of Cuba within the next three years, preferably to the U.S.

[MODAPHUKA]

Bro...lmao...is that a serious question? That wasn't a dig at Puerto Rico. It's customary and formal to refer to a country by the feminine, "she" or "her." One would refer to Cuba as "her" or "she." Ever hear the term "motherland?" Anyway, enough with the English lesson....

You've made some good points. You're certainly right about Olympic success. Cuba wouldn't have as many gold medals if her (lol) boxers could easily turn pro. That doesn't mean we wouldn't win any, though. It would, however, drastically cut the medal tally.

You're also correct about "polished boxing skills," and the fact that you really don't see Cuban brawlers. It's mainly as a result of all those amateur bouts. The pro style, often featuring all-out action, doesn't translate well to the amateur ranks. But, it cuts both ways. A fighter that has spent too much time in the amateurs may suffer irrevocable harm to their professional potential. In my opinion, Guillermo Rigondeaux just might be such a fighter. Rigo was an amazing amateur. He possesses great skill and talent, but he got into the pro game way late and it shows.

Did not know about the "her" thing. Thanks for clearing that out and yeah after I posted my comment I noticed yours a few before mine and it was pretty much what I had in mind.

[HolyGhost]

The following list of Cubans currently in pro boxing, by weight class, comes from Boxrec, so feel free to check my stated facts:

Minimum Weight - None
Light Flyweight - None
Flyweight - None
Super Flyweight - (One) Leonardo Sanchez (19 years old) 2-1-0
Bantamweight - (One) Yan Barthelemy 12-3
Super Bantamweight - (Three) Guillermo Rigondeaux, Yoandris Salinas 20-0-1, Hairon Socarras (19 years old) 6-0-1
Featherweight - (Two) Luis Franco 11-1 (fighting Billy Dib for his belt on March 1), Jessy Cruz 8-5-1
Super Featherweight - (Four) Including Yuriorkis Gamboa and Rances Barthelemy 18-0
Lightweight - (Seven) Including Richard Abril, Angelo Santana 14-0 (watch out for this kid), and Yoelvis Gamboa (Yuri’s brother) 8-1
Light Welterweight- (One) Michael Santander 3-0 (23 years old)
Welterweight- (Three) Yordenis Ugas 13-1, (and two others, one 36 and the other 40)
Light Middleweight- (Six) Erislandy Lara, Yudel Johnson (13-1), Inocente Fiz 15-0, Leosvy Mayedo 3-0 (and two others 40 and older)
Middleweight - (Three) None really worth noting, unless you count “Kid Chocolate,” Peter Quillin, which would make four.
Super Middleweight - (One) Julio Acosta 5-1 (38 years old)
Light Heavyweight - (Four) Umberto Savigne 10-1 (34 years old) Miguel Velozo 15-1 (39 years old), Vilier Quinonez 5-0 ,Yordanis Despaigne 9-2
Cruiserweight- (Four) Yoan Pablo Hernandez, Pedro Rodriguez 13-1, Yasmany Consuegra 10-0, Yenisei Gonzalez 10-0
Heavyweight - (Nine) Odlanier Solis, Mike Perez 18-0, Juan Carlos Gomez (39) 51-3, Luis Ortiz 19-0, Glendy Hernandez, 9-0 and four others.

Out of fifty named Cuban boxers on this list, there are six present or past champions: Gamboa, Rigo, Abril, Quillin, Gomez and Yoan Pablo Hernandez. Lara is top-ten. Many of the men on this list are either too young or inexperienced to have made a splash yet, or too old to ever make an impact. Even men like Gamboa, Rigo and Lara don’t have many fights, because they haven’t been free very long. Even a woeful underachiever like Solis has been ranked top-ten in the past. Guys like Angelo Santana aren’t very known yet, but they will be. Angelo is a bad young motherfucker.

Fifty professional fighters spread throughout all categories…. Boxrec lists 89 Filipinos in the Super Bantamweight division alone! Mexicans? 239!! Even Puerto Rico, with her tiny population, boasts 25 fighters at 122! For a people that have been shut out of pro boxing for over a half-century, and only number about 1.6 million in the United States, Cubans have done pretty well. Certain ignoramuses on this site want to make themselves feel good by putting down Cuban fighters. God only knows how many Cuban champs there’d be if we had a population of 115 million. Truth always wins in the end.

It's not our fault Cuba is Communist. An embargo closes doors on many fields. They brought it on themselves and you know it.

So take your baby crying to Washington DC, yeah, overthere by Capitol Hill where if you are lucky enough, you will have someone hear your crying. We simply do not give a damn what nationality boxers are, all we care about is watching them face each other on the ring.

[damit305]

Unbiased, factual boxing fans, regardless of race or nationality should understand great boxing comes from ANYWHERE. Not just power in numbers.

[Angry Cuban]

Unbiased, factual boxing fans, regardless of race or nationality should understand great boxing comes from ANYWHERE. Not just power in numbers.

Que bola mi herma?!!!...bro despierto a las 3 de la maņana..tu no duermes..lol

[damit305]

Que bola mi herma?!!!...bro despierto a las 3 de la maņana..tu no duermes..lol

Hehe... Las 2 mi bro. Y muchas chingonas andan despiertas en el west.

[HeroBando]

We simply do not give a damn what nationality boxers are, all we care about is watching them face each other on the ring.

Yes but you and your pals count much less than all the top promoters, who can do much more with an American, Mexican, PR, German, Brit...

The guys point wasn't to boast. There's another thread with haters ganging up on Cuban fighters. The TS has all the Cubans on ignore, so I guess they're shut out and it's a free for all there.

[Pacdbest]

I didn't just jump out of bed this morning pounding my chest, proud to be Cubano. As Illmaticfighter fighter rightfully points out, this thread is in response to a ridiculous and unwarranted attack on Cuban fighters started last night.

What attack? I know we feast on Gamboa;s Ducking of Rios!! But that's just facts!!! not Attack on Cubans!! This is just combat sports!! Not a world war!!

[CubanGuyNYC]

It's not our fault Cuba is Communist. An embargo closes doors on many fields. They brought it on themselves and you know it.

So take your baby crying to Washington DC, yeah, overthere by Capitol Hill where if you are lucky enough, you will have someone hear your crying. We simply do not give a damn what nationality boxers are, all we care about is watching them face each other on the ring.

The only thing about your post that makes any sense is the part about only wanting so see fighters "face each other in the ring," which is fine. The rest is utter gibberish from an individual who is trying to sound informed, but comes off as a fool. Stick to boxing, if you know anything about it....