CAMAGÜEY.- The Warriors of El Mayor achieved this Saturday their tenth consecutive crown at the conclusion of the 59th Playa Girón National Boxing Tournament, led by the two-time Olympic champion Julio César La Cruz, who together with Roniel Iglesias from Pinar del Río reached twelve gold medals.
La Cruz and Roniel, also a two-time winner under the five rings, had comfortable duels in the dispute for the thrones of 91 and 69 kilograms, respectively. Iglesias beat the youthful Darián Castro from Havana in the three distances, while “La Sombra” danced in the closing match against Freddy Pérez from Santiago.
In this way, both broke the tie in the historical ranking of top winners in national competitions with the legendary Teófilo Stevenson and are now one gold metal away from the record holder Félix Savón (13).
“It is an honor to pass Stevenson on that list, although for the Cubans he is unbeatable. This motivates me to continue preparing myself to reach the top and in the process continue helping the province”, said La Cruz in this regard.
The final evening began with the long-awaited confrontation of the flyweights between Sancti Spiritus Yosvany Veitía and local Damián Arce, which turned out to be just what was predicted: a torrent of blows from bell to bell. With Arce going forward all the time, Veitía had to be more elusive than ever and bet on counterattacks. The pulse was so close that the judges voted 3-2 in favor of the visitor, who thus won his tenth Cuban title.
For some favorites, the grand finale was a mere formality, since their opponents did not demand the maximum, these were the cases of Lázaro Álvarez (60 kg) and Arlen López (81 kg). Another who walked the distance was Yoenlis Hernández from Camagüey, executioner of Alex Pérez from Sancti Spiritus.
The other Warrior of El Mayor who climbed to the top of the podium confirming his status as a "sensation" of the tournament, was the young Nelson Williams (86 kg). Rarely had a rookie been seen showing so much power, to the point of provoking three protection counts from Carlos Pérez from Holguin to put him out of action in the second round.
Another good fight was staged by the stellar Mayabeque’s Osvel Caballero against an honorable challenger Saidel Horta. Caballero had to draw all his weapons to respond to Horta's continuous attacks and to revalidate his champion status. Also closed was the fight between Cienfuegos’ Erislandy Álvarez and Guantánamo’s Jorge Moirán, favorite to win in the 63 kilograms. However, Álvarez convinced the referees to grant him the 4-1 victory of his first crown in these events.
With the three golds and the silver of this day, the host squad added 31 units to lead the team ranking ahead of Guantánamo and Sancti Spíritus, both with 25 points, but the easterners with one more silver medal. At the end of the competition, the president of the Cuban Federation of the discipline, Alberto Puig de la Barca, declared to Adelante that a high technical level and a guaranteed future were observed in several divisions with young people with international results and others who from their territories prepared very good.
FINAL FIGHTS
52 kg: Yosvany Veitía (SSP) 3-2 to Damián Arce (CMG)
57 kg: Osvel Caballero (MAY) 5-0 to Saidel Horta (CFG)
60 kg: Lázaro Álvarez (PRI) 5-0 to Rafael Joubert (GTM)
63 kg: Erislandy Álvarez (CFG) 4-1 to Jorge Moirán (GTM)
69 kg: Roniel Iglesias (PRI) 5-0 to Darián Favier Castro (HAB)
75 kg: Yoenlis Hernández (CMG) 5-0 to Alex Michel Pérez (SSP)
81 kg: Arlen López (GTM) 5-0 to Brayan León (PRI)
86kg: Nelson Williams (CMG) RSC-2 to Carlos Perez (HOL)
91 kg: Julio César La Cruz (CMG) 5-0 to Freddy Pérez (SCU)
HONOR ROLL
Most technical: Yoenlis Hernández (CMG-75 kg)
Most combative: Erislandy Álvarez (CFG-63 kg)
Best coach: Jorge Francis Martínez (CMG)
Best referee: Luis Hidalgo (GRA)
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez