A Cuban Shines in Rio

  Another Great Boxer 
{Tuesday, August 9th, 2016}

       A 26-year-old Cuban from Guantanamo, Erislandy Savon, might be the latest in a long line of great Cuban boxers. Last night at the Rio Olympics Erislandy easily defeated Britain's highly regarded heavyweight Lawrence Okalie 3-to-0. The Reuters photo above shows Erislandy landing a stiff left jab.

Here Erislandy Savon scores big with a right hook.

       The Reuters report from Rio Monday was euphoric about the easy victory by Erislandy Savon over Lawrence Okalie. The poetic summary included these glowing words: "The Cuban gave the Brit a tutorial in the Sweet Science of Boxing. Savon boxed on cruise control." Erislandy scored a knock-down in the first round and then was content to dominate the last two rounds with crisp left jabs and strong right-crosses.

      Erislandy's uncle is the legendary Felix Savon. Felix, one of boxing's greatest heavyweights, won three Gold Medals in the Olympics -- 1992, 1996 and 2000. He hopes his nephew gets one in Rio this week.

       Felix Savon was born 48-years-ago in Guantanamo Province, Cuba. He now lives in Havana. He is shown above with his three Gold Medals. Felix now coaches young boxers like Erislandy Savon.

       But the greatest Cuban boxer was Teofilo Stevenson. Before he died at age 60 of a heart attack in Havana on June 11, 2012, the BBC called Teofilo, "Cuba's greatest and best known figure after Fidel Castro." 

     Starting at age 20 at the Munich Olympics in 1972, Teofilo was the most feared boxer in the world. He shocked Munich by knocking out five opponents, including the heralded American Duane Bobick. Teofilo then went on to win all the world amateur heavyweight titles, including 3 Gold Medals in the Olympics.

      There was a consistent worldwide clamor for Teofilo Stevenson to turn pro and get in the ring against Muhammad Ali. He was offered a down payment of $1 million to fight Ali, but refused. His explanation still shocks the capitalist world: "What is one million dollars compared to the love of eight million Cubans?" 

     The most legendary of Americans, Muhammad Ali, became Teofilo Stevenson's close friend. Once in Cuba and once in New York Ali said, "I've never been afraid of any boxer, except the Cuban Teofilo Stevenson. In our primes, I don't think I could have beaten him. I also love the man. He is a great human." 

     Teofilo Stevenson was not only a great boxer and a great Cuban patriot, he also was a fierce supporter of Fidel Castro. Teofilo only got in trouble one time. That was in 1999 at the Miami International Airport when he was in line to board a charter airplane. A 41-year-old United Airlines worker insulted Teofilo by insulting Fidel Castro. Teofilo head-butted the man, dislodging some teeth. He was arrested but allowed to leave Miami after bail was posted. He didn't return for the trial. An independent investigation indicated that the Cuban American National Foundation, fiercely anti-Castro, had arranged the verbal assault against Teofilo. Much the same, of course, happened to Castro's friend Nelson Mandela when he visited Miami. 

       And speaking of Cuban patriots, Yulieski Gurriel for 14 years was the island's and Fidel Castro's favorite baseball player. For over a decade he resisted becoming a multi-millionaire U. S. player. But at age 32 back on July 16th, Yuleski signed a guaranteed $47.5 million contract with the Houston Astros. While his agents negotiated that deal, Yulieski worked out on his own in Panama before the Astros sent him to their minor leagues, where Yulieski has hit a whopping .429 and belted a grand-slam homer Sunday, August 7th for Double-A Corpus Christi. The Astros now say they will call Yulieski up and he will make his Major League debut playing third base against the St. Louis Cardinals next week -- on Tuesday, August 16th.

        This is Lourdes Gurriel, Yulieski's younger brother by a full decade. Yesterday -- August 8th -- Major League Baseball proudly announced that Lourdes is now a Free Agent. That means all 30 Major League teams can bid for him. Lourdes, at age 22, is a super prospect and ten years younger than Yulieski.

     Prior to becoming a multi-millionaire in the U. S., Lourdes Gurriel is working out in Panama and letting his agents deal with his contract, which will far exceed the piddling $47.5 million guarantee his older brother Yulieski got from the Houston Astros, a team that now vows to also "big high" for Lourdes.

       This photo shows Yulieski Gurriel, on the left, and his brother Lourdes the day they decided to become multi-millionaire baseball players in the United States. The baseball-loving Cubans on the island still love them and don't blame them for succumbing to the lure of guaranteed millions of Yankee dollars, following the unending path of dozens of Cuban baseball stars like Cespedes, Puig, Chapman, etc., etc., etc., etc.

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