Cuban boxing will reactivate its national calendar

After a 2021 in which its men's squad celebrated reigns in high-ranking international leagues, Cuban boxing foresees that the coming season will welcome a domestic calendar marked by a new moment for the Playa Giron tournament.

The president of its federation, Alberto Puig de la Barca, explained that the dominions exercised in the Tokyo Olympic Games, the World Championship in Belgrade and the Junior Pan American Games in Cali become special motivation to take on new challenges.

"They are successes that increase their significance from the demands associated with the limitations imposed by the covid-19, which went from the uncertainties about the programming of the qualifying events to the necessary adaptation of the training plans," he said.

The director recalled that it was a campaign marked by local competitive inactivity, as was the case with its predecessor, which multiplies the importance of the reactivation designed for school, youth and senior competitions.

Regarding the latter, he explained that the Playa Girón national competition will be moved to the month of June (19-25), in order to consolidate it as a scenario where the coaches of the senior concentrates define possible calls to the ranks.

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

Puig showed satisfaction for the presence of the Olympic champions Andy Cruz, Julio César la Cruz and Roniel Iglesias among the 10 best athletes of the country in the year that is ending, and considered deserved the mentions assigned to other two exponents of his sport.

They are bronze medalist at that level Lázaro Álvarez and world champion Yoenlis Feliciano Hernández, which brought to five the number of fighters who will be recognized on the 23rd at the gala to be held at Havana's Martí Theater.

Asked about the absence of Arlen Lopez from the candidacy that formed the basis for the vote, the also national commissioner said that the five-ring titleholder was excluded because of the stance taken towards the World Championship in Belgrade.

"His non-participation in that event was the result of a personal decision, based on opinions about his sporting form, contrary to those of the technical team and announced by him when his registration was already official and we did not have time to replace him," he said.

"The analysis left as a result the recognition of the error by the athlete, who had been offered the possibility of not aspiring to integrate it, as we did with all the assistants to the Olympic Games in Tokyo," he said.

"There was consensus in considering that his mistake was an attempt against the team's commitment, and as an educational measure, his presence in this relationship was not endorsed, even though he has the great merit of having won his second Olympic gold," he concluded.