Three Cubans Got Out To Become Champions

Once Castro took over the island of Cuba in 1961, he banned professional boxing, so a few, like 3-time Olympic Heavyweight Gold Medalists Teofilo Stevenson, 108-12, and Felix Savon, 258-10, in 1992, 1996, and 2000, never got the1972, 1976, and 1980 opportunity
to turn professional.

Three who eventually left the island and became world champions in the professional ranks were two-time WBA and WBC World Welterweight champion Jose ‘Mantequilla’ Napoles, 81-7 with 54 stoppages, who fled Cuba and started fighting out of Mexico. He was either 113-1 or 114-1 in the amateurs.

Napoles was 19-1 as a pro in Cuba when he fled to Mexico. He was 59-4 when he won the
WBA and WBC world titles in April of 1969, stopping champion Curtis Cokes, 55-9-3, who couldn’t answer the bell for the fourteenth round in the Inglewood Forum in California.

In the rematch, he stopped Cokes in ten rounds in Mexico. Then defeated the former champion Emile Griffith, 60-10, and Ernie ‘Indian Red’ Lopez, 39-5-1, both in Inglewood.

Then, after two non-title wins, he lost to the nephew of former world champion Carmen Due to a bad cut, Basilio, Billy Backus, 29-10-4, in Syracuse, New York. It seems he didn’t bring his cut man with him, and he felt he didn’t need him—big mistake.

Napoles regained the title two fights later, stopping Backus in eight rounds in Inglewood. He defended his title seven times before attempting to win the WBC and WBA middleweight titles from Argentina’s Carlos Monzon, 81-3-9, being stopped in 6 rounds. He would go on to defend his title in his next

four fights, all in Mexico, over Hedgemon Lewis, 51-4, Horacio Saldano, 51-4-9, twice over
Armando Muniz, 36-8-1, before losing his final bout to UK’s John H. Stracey, 42-3-1, on cuts in Mexico.

Another who escaped Cuba was a two-time WBC Featherweight champion, Jose ‘Pocket Cassius Clay’ Legra, 129-11-4, who moved to Spain. He won the title in July 1968, stopping Howard Winstone, 61-5, in five rounds in Wales.

Legra lost his title to Johnny Famechon, 47-4-6, in the UK in December 1962. He regained it in December 1972, stopping Clemente Sanchez, 39-8-2, in Mexico.

Then, in his next fight in Brazil, he lost to Eder Jofre, 61-2-4, by majority decision. The third Cuban to leave the island and win a world title was Joel ‘El Cepillo’ Casamayor, 38-6-1. He was 363-30 in the amateurs. In 1992, he won the Gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics. He fought out of Miramar, Florida, after leaving Cuba. In September of 1986, he turned pro in Florida.

Casamayor won the WBA interim world super featherweight title, defeating Antonio Hernandez, 50-22, in June of 1999, improving to 18-0. In May of 2000, he won the WBA
World Super Featherweight title, stopping Jong Kwon Baek, 21-0-1, in five rounds in Kansas
City, MO.

Casamayor defended his title four times before losing to WBO World champion Acelino Freitas, 30-0, in Las Vegas, NV, in January 2002. He lost twice trying to regain the world
title to WBO super featherweight champion Diego Corrales, 37-2, by split decision in March of 2004, and to WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo, 50-6-1, by split decision.

In October 2006, Casamayor won the WBC world lightweight title from Corrales by split decision. Then, for some reason, in his next fight, he defends the WBC interim title by split decision over Jose Santa Cruz, 25-2, wins the WBO interim title, stopping Michael Katsidis, 23-0, then losing to Juan Manuel Marquez, 48- 4-1, and goes 2-2 before retiring.