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Angel Espinosa was during his time the most feared boxer in the world.
Teofilo Stevenson, Vasyl Lomachenko, Mario Kindelan, Alexey Tischenko, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Lazslo Papp, Felix Savon, Matvey Korobov, they all were the most dominant boxer in the amateurs for certain time and back in the 80's it was Espinosa, a converted southpaw who could hit with both hands , he wasn't only winning his bouts but he was knocking them out cold.
He had perfect technique with his hands up and every punch packing power because of his great leverage and thousands of rounds of experience
When the Dual Meets between Cuba and USA were happening in the 80's, Sugar Ray Leonard used to go to the Cuban training camp only to watch Espinosa train.
But the bad luck hit Esponisa: Back in 1984 Cuba didn't went to the Olympics and a young Espinosa didn't care and just trained hard for the 1988 Games, in the best shape of his life and knocking out the best fighters in the world left and right, Cuba didn't went to the Olympics in Seoul, he was depressed, started drinking and stopped training, they convinced him to go to the 1992 games and he went, now at light heavyweight, Espinosa reached the quarterfinals, but he wasn't even close from what he used to be.
He beat Carlos Garcia (world amateur champion), beat Henry Maske (olympic champion and professional world champion), beat Darrin Allen (world amateur champion), beat Orestes Solano, beat Sven Ottke (profesional world champion), beat Jose Gomez (olympic champion), beat Armando Martinez (olympic champion), beat Egerton Marcus (olympic silver medalist) and he even knocked out Meldrick Taylor with a body shot (olympic champion and professional world champion).
Eventually he moved to Miami and lived there training young kids in a high school until he died and was found in the gym where he used to teach.
Russ Anber, world class trainer from Canada and if I'm right, the current trainer of Oleksandr Usyk, said that after Roy Jones, Espinosa was the greatest talent he ever saw.
Espinosa said that he regretted never turning pro, he was an elite talent and never reached the glory, gone but none forgotten, Angel Espinosa.
I will translate the words of the great Cuban trainer, Alcides Sagarra (trainer of the Cuban team from 1968 to 2001) in his book.
"Espinosa represents the classic example of all the boxing movement that is represented inside the Cuban boxing school. This feared converted southpaw can be seen inside tactical fights against Henry Maske or going toe a toe against Armando Martinez. His tactical planning can vary, for him the technique is an asset that he doesn't uses all the time, it's hard to determine on which hand he packs more power, his powerful jab or his heavy left hand...the qualities of Espinosa give him the chance of winning against difficult opponents. In his best shape, there's no one in the world that can beat the boxer from Holguin".
-Alcides Sagarra-
Sadly, there isn't much footage of Espinosa, i have around 12 fights of him but since i don't have my PC right now i will only embed one fight.
R.I.P Champ.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dsAonQ4eLdE
Teofilo Stevenson, Vasyl Lomachenko, Mario Kindelan, Alexey Tischenko, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Lazslo Papp, Felix Savon, Matvey Korobov, they all were the most dominant boxer in the amateurs for certain time and back in the 80's it was Espinosa, a converted southpaw who could hit with both hands , he wasn't only winning his bouts but he was knocking them out cold.
He had perfect technique with his hands up and every punch packing power because of his great leverage and thousands of rounds of experience
When the Dual Meets between Cuba and USA were happening in the 80's, Sugar Ray Leonard used to go to the Cuban training camp only to watch Espinosa train.
But the bad luck hit Esponisa: Back in 1984 Cuba didn't went to the Olympics and a young Espinosa didn't care and just trained hard for the 1988 Games, in the best shape of his life and knocking out the best fighters in the world left and right, Cuba didn't went to the Olympics in Seoul, he was depressed, started drinking and stopped training, they convinced him to go to the 1992 games and he went, now at light heavyweight, Espinosa reached the quarterfinals, but he wasn't even close from what he used to be.
He beat Carlos Garcia (world amateur champion), beat Henry Maske (olympic champion and professional world champion), beat Darrin Allen (world amateur champion), beat Orestes Solano, beat Sven Ottke (profesional world champion), beat Jose Gomez (olympic champion), beat Armando Martinez (olympic champion), beat Egerton Marcus (olympic silver medalist) and he even knocked out Meldrick Taylor with a body shot (olympic champion and professional world champion).
Eventually he moved to Miami and lived there training young kids in a high school until he died and was found in the gym where he used to teach.
Russ Anber, world class trainer from Canada and if I'm right, the current trainer of Oleksandr Usyk, said that after Roy Jones, Espinosa was the greatest talent he ever saw.
Espinosa said that he regretted never turning pro, he was an elite talent and never reached the glory, gone but none forgotten, Angel Espinosa.
I will translate the words of the great Cuban trainer, Alcides Sagarra (trainer of the Cuban team from 1968 to 2001) in his book.
"Espinosa represents the classic example of all the boxing movement that is represented inside the Cuban boxing school. This feared converted southpaw can be seen inside tactical fights against Henry Maske or going toe a toe against Armando Martinez. His tactical planning can vary, for him the technique is an asset that he doesn't uses all the time, it's hard to determine on which hand he packs more power, his powerful jab or his heavy left hand...the qualities of Espinosa give him the chance of winning against difficult opponents. In his best shape, there's no one in the world that can beat the boxer from Holguin".
-Alcides Sagarra-
Sadly, there isn't much footage of Espinosa, i have around 12 fights of him but since i don't have my PC right now i will only embed one fight.
R.I.P Champ.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dsAonQ4eLdE
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