Teófilo Stévenson, from Las Tunas, is considered by most specialists as the best amateur boxer of all time, a legend forged on the Olympic rings in Munich, Montreal, and Moscow, where he equaled the feat of the three-time championship under the five rings of the Hungarian Laszlo Papp, and paved the way for another legend of fists: Félix Savón, from Guantánamo.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- These have been the only boxers capable of reigning in three Olympic events, the owners of a podium to which no one will be able to climb in the now imminent Tokyo edition. The two Cubans, and the Magyar, make up a legendary shortlist, which will remain at least four more years above the rest.
Among men, none of the two-time Olympic champions is already active, while in the female branch, the two possible candidates retired: the British Nicola Adams and the American Claressa Shields, both champions in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
At the moment, according to a report by JIT Digital, eight out of 19 athletes with two or more gold medals in Olympic boxing were born in the Greater of the Antilles.
If the Hungarian Laszlo Papp (London 1948, Helsinki 1952, and Melbourne 1956) was the initiator, the Giant from Delicias, Teófilo Stévenson, took things to another level with his impressive demonstrations in Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, and Moscow 1980. A few years later, Guantanamo’s Félix Savón imitated him with his triumphs in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000.
In the group that follows behind, that of the two-time champions, are Ángel Herrera, Héctor Vinent, Ariel Hernández, Mario Kindelán, Guillermo Rigondeaux and Robeisy Ramírez; while the Olympic champions Roniel Iglesias, Arlen López, and Julio César la Cruz will now try to ascend to that privileged squad in Tokyo.
Of the rest, besides the females Adams and Shields, the two-time Russian champions Boris Lagutin (Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964) and Oleg Saitov (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000), as well as the Chinese Zou Shiming (Beijing 2008, London 2012) stand out.
The others are the American Oliver Kirk, the only leader of two categories in the same event (San Luis 1904), the Ukrainian Vasily Lomachenko (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), the Polish Jerzy Kulej (Tokyo 1964 and Mexico 1968), the British Harry Mallin (Antwerp 1920 and Paris 1924) and the Russian Aleksei Tishchenko (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008).
CUBAN OLYMPIC MULTI CHAMPIONS
Teófilo Stevenson: Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, and Moscow 1980, always in more than 81 kg.
Félix Savón: Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000, always at 91 kg.
Ángel Herrera: Montreal 1976, at 57 kg; and Moscow 1980, at 60 kg.
Héctor Vinent: Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, both weighing 63.5 kg.
Ariel Hernández: Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, both weighing 75 kg.
Mario Kindelán: Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, both weighing 60 kg.
Guillermo Rigondeaux: Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, both at 54 kg.
Robeisy Ramírez: London 2012, at 52 kg; and Rio de Janeiro 2016, at 56 kg.
