“It was a great night of boxing,'' Alberto Pucci de la Barca said on Saturday morning, April 6, at the Brisas del Caribe Hotel in Varadero, one of Cuba's most popular seaside resorts. He smiled modestly on the stairs. The night before, the president of the Cuban Boxing Federation did not hide his joy. Eight matches were held between boxers from part of the Cuban national team and those from the French team, with Cuba winning eight. They were all “by unanimous decision” by the all-Cuban judges of this rather unusual tournament.
This apparent score will not affect either team's chances of qualifying for the Olympics (July 26 to August 11), as this match is not on the international calendar. It was primarily an assessment of athletes' fitness levels at the end of a two-week training camp, and was a hugely popular and medal-winning sporting extravaganza for Cuba.
Since the introduction of amateur boxing at the 1904 Summer Olympics, the Caribbean island has won 78 Olympic medals, including 41 gold medals. “Cuba is a country of boxers and a place where great champions were born,” said French boxer Sofiane Oumiha, three-time lightweight world champion and silver medalist at the Rio Games. This is what he said about the appeal of this “Boxing Gala,'' which rivals Cuba's two Olympic Games. Champion Arlen Lopez and Julio Cesar La Cruz.
“We box according to instinct.”
“They are very technical, highly skilled boxers. Thanks to that, we know where we stand. They have a unique style and are very dynamic,” said the Toulouse native. said after cutting practice short due to neck spasms late in camp. . “By opening up Cuban boxing to professional competition, [professional sports had long been prohibited by the Castro regime], now there are more “batsmen” and great combinations are being created. ”
“Cuba has dominated men's amateur boxing for many years, but emerging countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are also emerging, and strong countries such as the United States and Brazil have not forgotten,'' said Malik, coach of the French national team and head of the French association. Bouziane explained. For the men's program, he attended a training camp with two other coaches and a physical therapist. “High-level boxing is all about anticipation and direct counterattacks. But here we box according to our instincts. It allows us to work on our ability to adapt.” The situation is ideal to sharpen our preparations and move towards our interim goal of the European Championship, which will be held in Belgrade from April 15th to 29th.
Busiane, who was used to training camps in Cuba as both a boxer and a coach, also had to adapt. This two-week session, where each team trains separately but comes together for practice matches, is traditionally held in Cuban boxing's two most iconic sporting venues, the elite men's fincas and youth fighters. It was held at Estadio Panamericano. However, this required many bus trips.
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