Cuba, the second most successful country in Olympic boxing, only has one chance for gold in Paris 2024: Erislandy Álvarez, a 24-year-old who will try to defeat the favorite and local Sofiane Oumiha in the final of the 63.5-kilogram category.
Since Beijing 2008, the island has always won medals in competitions under the five rings, and the last time it only obtained two medals was in Mexico 1968, when it celebrated the silver medals of Enrique Regüeiferos and Rolando Garbey.
Arlen López, a two-time champion who fell short in his pursuit of a third title, had to settle for third place, a remarkable result considering that the team captain, Julio César la Cruz, was eliminated in his debut in French territory.
The story goes that López and La Cruz failed in their attempt to join the exclusive club of triple Olympic monarchs in the art of Fistiana: the Hungarian Laszlo Papp (1948, 1952, 1956) and his countrymen Teófilo Stevenson (1972, 1976, 1980) and Félix Savón (1992, 1996, 2000).
Álvarez's task will not be easy, as Oumiha is a silver medalist from Rio de Janeiro 2016 and a three-time world champion (2017, 2021, 2023), as journalist Francys Romero recalls on the social network Facebook.
"There is one (fight) left and we are going to give it our all, this is the last one and it is the most important," Álvarez told the AP agency about the most significant fight of his career, which also showcases a silver medal from the 2023 world championships.
The times of Stevenson and Savón, or other legendary figures like Emilio Correa, Ángel Herrera, Héctor Vinent, Ariel Hernández, Mario Kindelán, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Robeisy Ramírez, among many others, are behind us.
Today, Cuban boxing has a name: Erislandy Álvarez, its only golden hope in the "City of Light."
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