JOHN WIGHT enthuses over the newly-crowned WBO champ, who ditched the 9 to 5, for professional boxing
Latest editorial
‘What is one million dollars compared to the love of eight million Cubans?’
JOHN WIGHT discusses Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson and his legacy which is ‘guaranteed to endure’
Teofilo Stevenson talking with journalists during the 22nd Summer Olympic Games held in Moscow in 1980
[RIA Novosti archive / Creative Commons]
THESE were the words of the legendary Cuban amateur heavyweight, Teofilo Stevenson, in response to a lucrative multimillion dollar offer to turn pro and fight Muhammad Ali after the Montreal Olympics in 1976. They remain as powerful a testament to the nature and character of the Cuban Revolution today as they did when spoken over 40 years ago.
Stevenson dominated world amateur heavyweight boxing in a career that spanned 14 years and three Olympic Games. He returned to Cuba on each occasion with a gold medal to make him one of only three boxers to achieve this remarkable feat in the history of the Games, among them fellow Cuban Felix Savon.
To add to his haul of three Olympic golds, Stevenson also won three World Amateur Boxing Championship gold medals and a further two golds at the Pan American Games, before announcing his retirement in 1986 at 34.
Similar stories
JOHN WIGHT tells the riveting story of one of the most controversial fights in the history of boxing and how, ultimately, Ali and Liston were controlled by others
JOHN WIGHT pays tribute to the late great George Foreman who defied the odds throughout his life and career to become a household name and legend of the sport
ROGER McKENZIE writes about late boxing legend Foreman’s legacy, from his part in Rumble in the Jungle to becoming world heavyweight champion at 45
JOHN WIGHT explains how the eighth-round stoppage back in 1974 remains among the most important moments in the entire history of sports