The Cuban comedian Limay Blanco sought out and found Félix Savón—three-time Olympic boxing champion— after a video went viral showing the former athlete rummaging for food in a dumpster, and he gave him food supplies, cash, and a Bible donated by his church Cristo Cambia Vidas.
It all began on October 11, when the Facebook page BoxeoCubano published a clip lasting just 17 seconds in which a person identified as Savón responds to the person filming from a car: «Picking up food. Food to eat».
The images surpassed one million views the next day and sparked an intense debate: some users questioned the authenticity of the video or suggested that it was collecting food for animals, while the specialized outlet Swing Completo warned that it could not independently verify the identity of the person or the exact circumstances of the recording.
It was the video released by Limay Blanco that clarified the doubts regarding the situation of the former boxer.
In the images from the meeting, Blanco is seen handing over a box with spaghetti, rice, oil, powdered milk, beans, and chicken, along with money. They embrace each other. "I know that many won't like that video, but I'm doing it for the Christians. No matter what that person has done, help them and continue on your path," Blanco declared at the end of the clip.
Savón, 59 years old, accumulated one of the most remarkable records in world amateur boxing: three consecutive Olympic gold medals in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000, as well as six world titles from 1986 to 1997, matching the feat of Teófilo Stevenson.
The Cuban regime never allowed him to transition to professional boxing, despite offers that included, according to the media, a fight with Mike Tyson.
His career was marked in 2018 when he was arrested following a report from the family of a 12-year-old boy for sexual abuse.
Cuban authorities never made the verdict or trial details public; independent media reported a sentence of approximately 11 years, a figure that has not been officially confirmed. He spent nearly six years in prison and was released on parole at the end of 2024.
Less than two years after his release, the video from the landfill shows him in a state of apparent extreme hardship.
The case reignited the debate about the treatment that the regime affords its former athletes once they are no longer useful as propaganda.
The chess player Lázaro Bruzón, who emigrated from Cuba in 2018, reacted to the video with a direct complaint: «All athletes were useful figures as long as we produced results», he wrote, describing the system as a structure that «recycles people, squeezes souls, and discards» those who are no longer useful.
The pattern is recurring. The former boxer Gaspar Casamayor —officially recognized as "Sporting Glory"— was seen asking for money on the streets of Santiago de Cuba in March 2026.
The former world champion Bernardo Comas, 65 years old, lives in Camagüey with senile dementia and a pension of 8,000 Cuban pesos per month; and the ex-boxer Félix Lemus works the land to survive with just over 3,000 pesos a month.
The INDER has repeatedly denied that there is widespread institutional neglect, but has not provided concrete evidence of assistance.
While the institutions of the regime remain silent, it was a comedian with a box of supplies and a Bible who reached out where the State did not. "The same system that yesterday showcased them to the world as political trophies now has to answer for the conditions in which many of them live," stated BoxeoCubano in the text accompanying the original video.
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