Entering the high-performance boxing training center in Wajay known as La Finca and meeting the hardworking and skilled physiotherapist Miguel Enrique Durand would brighten your workday.
Affable, talkative, dynamic, and, above all, always willing to "fix" a bone with his prodigious hands (if that's possible). That is the portrait of this professional who worked in boxing, athletics, wrestling, fencing, and canoeing within the Cuban sports movement.
Today, after many years at the Institute of Sports Medicine in Cuba, Durand is in Houston, Texas, building a new life with his eight-year-old daughter, Marci de la Caridad.
What is one of the most prestigious Cuban physiotherapists doing at the moment?
I am in Houston, Texas, in the United States. Here I have my family, my little girl. I arrived on October 16, 2022, after making the journey that became so familiar to many Cubans. I started in Nicaragua to get here. Six months later, my daughter and her mom arrived thanks to humanitarian parole.
You ask me what I do. Well, I spent almost a year and a half washing dishes at a buffet restaurant, worked at a Wendy's fast food restaurant, and at two factories—one for chemical packaging, Schutz, and the other for pastries, LSI. In short, whatever came up.
Later, I had a good job at Southwest Keys, which worked with unaccompanied migrant children and unfortunately closed due to the issues surrounding migration.
Now I work in a warehouse preparing packages for Amazon and, at the same time, in a Hispanic clinic since April 2023.
In other words, I have alternated all my jobs with the clinic which, you know, is my passion. There, I generally work two times a week attending to patients who need physical therapy and rehabilitation.
My plan is to study nursing, which was the first career I pursued in Cuba, as I began physiotherapy afterward. You may not know this, but when I started at the Institute of Sports Medicine, I worked as a nurse. I began studying rehabilitation later on.
Speaking of another topic that I know you are passionate about: boxing. What is your opinion on the current state of Cuban boxing?
Boxing in Cuba is currently characterized by the number of new figures emerging. They have had to make constant and forced renewals in response to the increasing number of boxers who have chosen to take another path. This is not the first time this has happened. It is nothing compared to the decades of the 80s and 90s when athletes were retained. You could develop a four-year strategic plan that culminated in the Olympic Games.
Since Athens 2004, none of that has been the case. Remember that four Olympic champions and one world champion left Cuba, who were the foundation of the team heading to Beijing 2008, where not a single gold medal was won, although they didn’t do poorly, as they secured four silver and four bronze medals with very young figures, guided by Pedro Roque.
Surely Ian Bartelemí, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solís, Erislandy Lara, and Guillermo Rigondeaux would have reached the top of the podium in Beijing... do you understand?
Afterward, with Rolando Acebal, boxing experienced a resurgence from 2010 to 2016, a period that coincided with my time on the team. However, the exodus did not stop: Robeisy Ramírez, a double Olympic champion, led another significant migration of boxers, some of whom hadn't even made it to the national team.
Add to this that, for those reasons, veteran boxers like Roniel Iglesias, Lázaro Álvarez, and Julio César La Cruz were maintained, now connected to professional boxing under the auspices of the Cuban Boxing Federation.
Paris 2024: a single title
Look, it's true, only one gold medal, that of Erislandy Álvarez, but those he faces in the ring are no pushovers, and many of them are focused on professionalism as a means of livelihood.
They are no longer the boxers of the past, whom Cuba used to surpass by a large margin; but moreover, how many Cuban fighters are currently crossing gloves in professional boxing?
This must be coupled with the high number of technicians from the island who have emigrated and share their wealth of knowledge with boxers from other nations: Bulgaria, Spain, France, China, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan are just a few examples.
In other words, just one gold in Paris, but it wouldn't be surprising if they don't win any at Los Angeles 2028.
Do you know about the transition of Cuban boxers into professional boxing? What did you think of the fight between William Scull and Canelo?
Yes, I know them, and I follow them, although maybe not as much as I would like because in this country, one has to work a lot. I know many who were attended to by me in Cuba. I don't watch many fights, but I did see the one between William-Canelo and also the one between David Morrell and David Benavidez.
I'll tell you that I met Scull while I was working at La Finca. He wasn't officially registered there, but he had been part of the ESPA (national youth team), and I saw him at the Playa Girón tournaments; he fought at 75 kilos.
Regarding the fight with Canelo, I've received a lot of opinions, but here's mine: a tall boxer with long limbs needs to fight from the outside (in this case Scull, who has been trained since he was young by Franklin Aldama), while the shorter boxer with shorter limbs has to engage in close combat. This is almost a rule!
In this case, the Cuban had to remain on the outside, but Canelo, with 62 professional fights, should have pressed more. I also believe Scull needed to throw more punches. I know the Cuban has faced a lot of criticism, but between the two, who is the star? Ah! Yet, no one criticizes the Mexican, who is the main figure and the one everyone expected to put on a great fight. He should have cut off Scull’s movement and sought to fight on the inside. Scull comes off as the villain, while Canelo is the hero.
And if you notice, Canelo didn’t cut off Scull or get close to him. I have no criticism for the Cuban. That’s my view: he managed to face a historical man and stepped down from the ring well. I just urge him to prepare better, and hopefully there will be a rematch.
And about the rest of the Cubans in professional rings…
For me, Gamboa, Lara (whom many considered to have beaten Canelo in 2014), Robeisy (despite all the criticism he has faced and in whom I have confidence for a triumphant return), and at this moment, Andy Cruz and David Morrell, who perhaps lacked some “ruthlessness” in his fight with Benavidez, who did demonstrate everything he knows in the ring during their match.
I met Morrell when I was going to do sparring at La Finca, and by then, he was already regarded by his trainers as a top contender in the 81-kilogram weight class.
Andy Cruz was invincible in amateur boxing; hopefully, it will be the same here. I believe he can become a world champion in his category in professional boxing. Among many others who can reach great heights in their careers here in the United States: Kevin “El Alfa” Brown, Armando Martínez Junior, Yoandy Toirac, Frank Zaldívar, Marcos Forestal, the Peró brothers… to all of them!, because the list is getting longer, I wish them success and victory. They will always have my admiration, respect, and best wishes.
What memories do you have from your time as a physiotherapist in Saudi Arabia?
You know that I went there thanks to a contract I managed myself. After 2016, when I finished with boxing and started in women's wrestling, the opportunity to work in the Arab country with athletics came my way, and there I shared experiences with Milán Matos, the creator of the great Iván Pedroso and Orlando Meneses.
But who tells you that while being in athletics a spot opened up in boxing? Well, Esteban Cuéllar, Maikro Romero, and Yoelis Leal arrived, all coaches from CEAR "Cardín" who were leading the national youth team... and I joined them!
That contract was extended for about a year, and then I returned to Cuba in 2018.
This is how I rejoined the physical therapy department at "Cerro Pelado," from where I moved on to athletics, working in the throwing events, particularly with the hammer and javelin. I was involved in that for a year until I left Cuba.
Why did you leave? Didn't you have opportunities for other contracts?
The economic situation became very complicated. I had bought an apartment where my daughter, my stepson, and his mother lived. The pandemic hit, my father passed away, and I decided to sell the apartment and a car I had. It became difficult to go to the Pan American Stadium, where often there was no food; the transportation was impossible, that infernal P8. So... I left!
Regretful?
No. Not at all. You always miss things: friendships, the neighborhood, the Institute of Sports Medicine, my colleagues (I was there for 20 years), but no... Regretful? Nooo... This is a endurance race, but you reach the finish line.
How many sports did you work with over two decades?
In addition to boxing and athletics, I worked with youth canoeing at La Coronela and fencing (sword).
What differences might there be between your previous stage and the current one?
From my years in boxing, I remember Raúl Fernández, now in China, Rolando Acebal, head coach, Julián González Cedeño (also in China), and the late Julio Mena and Jorgito Hernández, among others. As you can see, there was tremendous talent. There was a rivalry within each weight class. There were titles, of course, like Julio César La Cruz in the 81-kilo category, but in the rest, there was a lot of competition.
Not many years passed before a stampede occurred; many of those boxers who decided to take a different path ended up in professional boxing in the United States. This would lead to a new renewal—and in a grand way! On top of that, there were the trainers who also said goodbye, in search of a better future.
So, lesser-known figures and coaches who have come from different provinces. In other words, the difference is evident. Nevertheless, I have great respect for each and every one of them. We are all Cubans!
Julita, could I ask you for a favor?
Of course!
Sending a greeting, a hug, and my respect to all my colleagues at the Institute of Sports Medicine, who have given me so much and with whom I shared and continue to share my heart.
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