Breaking: Olympic champion, Andy Cruz fled Cuba to start his professional boxing career
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Andy Cruz defected from Cuba
Andy Cruz is one of the best talents in the boxing and is also the reigning Olympic gold medalist. Andy Cruz won the Olympic gold at 2020 summer olympics. Cruz hails from Cuba, a country known for its impressive amateur boxing system. Cuba is one of the most successful countries in amateur boxing and is second in the all time medals table in the history of boxing in the Olympics.
Despite this success in amateur boxing, Cuba didn’t allow professional boxing in the country for around 60 years. Ban on professional fighting was placed by late president Fidel Castro in 1962 because he thought the sport was corrupt. Despite the ban, many boxers fled the country to pursue their dream and became pro fighters. However, the ban was lifted by the government in April 2022 and is now allowing boxers to fight professionally in the country.
Despite Cuba’s ban lift, Andy Cruz has reportedly defected from the country and would become a professional boxer in the future. The move was reported by Cuban boxing outlet BoxeoCubano. Why Andy left the country is still not clear, but it is speculated that Andy Cruz did this because he was sidelined on the Cuban national team.
Andy Cruz, Robeisy Ramírez and Guillermo Rigondeaux: History of Cuba’s defections
Cuba is one of the best amateur boxing country in the world and has various medals in all major amateur tournaments including the olympics. However, Cuba is one of the most oppressive regimes in the world and despite winning medals at the Olympics, many boxers fled the country for a better future.
Boxing has been a popular sport in Cuba and is associated with pride and is also used as a political tool in the country. Boxers, despite winning medals at the Olympics, earn very little and survive on bare minimum. The condition of boxers was so bad in the country that Olympic gold medalist Odlanier Solis had to sell his medals to provide food for his family.
A sense of patriotism is often used as an excuse for the ill conditions of the boxers of the country and when boxing promoter Don King offered Teofilo Stevenson a contract of $10 million, he said: “Why would I box for a $1m when I can fight for 10 million Cuban people?”
However, with changing economic conditions, many boxers like Olympic boxing two-time gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez and double world champion in the flyweight category, Joahnys Argilagos, recently defected from the country for a better future in boxing. Recent defection of Andy Cruz is another hit to Cuban boxing, and it seems more fighters might defect from the country to pursue professional boxing in order to live a better life.
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