HAVANA — Heavyweight Olympic champion Felix Savon heads a list of 12 fighters who will compete for Cuba at the Olympic Games in Sydney.
There were few surprises but high expectation for the final lineup announced by the Caribbean island’s boxing authorities Wednesday.
‘What we want is to hear the Cuban national anthem 12 times, and to see our flag raised 12 times in Sydney,’ national coach Alcides Sagarra said at a news conference in Havana. ‘That’s what we’re working for.’
Savon, Cuba’s best hope in its highly-rated team, confirmed his place after outpointing local rival, Odlanier Solis, 4-3, to win the 91 kg category of Cuba’s Giraldo Cordova Cardin tournament at the weekend.
It was Savon’s 15th title at the Cardin competition, the last chance for the boxers to impress local Olympic selectors.
‘Felix Savon is fine. He’s developing his preparation well, fulfilling his objectives correctly,’ Sagarra added after announcing the team.
‘We’ve told him ‘don’t pressure yourself for a third (gold) medal, don’t pressure yourself to mark a record, don’t get obsessed, keep calm’, because we know that affects the athletes,’ he said.
Sagarra noted, however, that Savon had previously beaten all his likely competitors in Sydney. ‘That should give us confidence,’ he said.
If Savon captures a third gold medal, he would equal three-time Cuban Olympic boxing champion Teofilo Stevenson, who won gold in 1972, 1976 and 1980.
One of the world’s strongest boxing nations, Cuba won 23 Olympic gold medals in the sport between Munich in 1972 and Atlanta in 1996. The Communist-run island boycotted the Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988.
Cuba’s Boxing Federation gave the full Olympic squad as follows:
48 kg — Maikro Romero Esquirol
51 kg — Manuel Mantilla Rodriguez
54 kg — Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz
57 kg — Enrique Carrion Olivares
60 kg — Mario Kindelan Mesa
63.5 kg — Diogenes Luna Martinez
67 kg — Roberto Guerra Rivera
71 kg — Juan Hernandez Sierra
75 kg — Jorge Gutierrez Espinosa
81 kg — Isael Alvarez Vicet
91 kg — Felix Savon Fabre
+ 91 kg — Alexis Rubalcaba Polledo
Source: SOCOG