Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow - Cuban heavyweights by Eric Armit Mar 20th 2008

In the latest part of his fascinating series, Eric Armit looks at the stars of yesterday, today and (perhaps) tomorrow.  This issue - Cuban heavyweights. Yesterday Nino Valdes Generally Latin America has had only limited success at producing heavyweights with Argentina and Cuba probably the only two to produce world class fighters. In the case of Cuba, since Fidel Castro closed the doors to professional boxing there, through a string of great amateurs they have shown what the world missed, but before Castro's days the only Cuban heavyweight of note had been Nino Valdes. Born Geraldo Ramos Ponciano Valdes in Havana on December 5 1924, Nino would go on to become one of the most feared heavyweights in the world and the scourge of English heavyweights. He had his first pro fight in Havana in December 1942 just after his 17th birthday and fought with mixed fortunes on the island until 1947 when he moved his base to the USA. He was one of Joe Louis sparring partners, and fought exhibitions bouts with Joe in 1949 and 1950. He was inactive in 1951 but then picked his career up again . The opposition was tough and he lost decisions to world class fighters such as Harold Johnson, Archie Moore and Bob Baker, but also beat former world champion Ezzard Charles and in November 1993 big German hope Heinz Neuhaus, who had lost only one of his 33 fights, and who had beaten Johnny Williams earlier in the year. Nino continued the good run in 1954 with wins over Archie McBride, Canadian James J Parker, Belgian Karel Sys and top rated Tommy Jackson. Rocky Marciano was champion at the time. And although Nino could not land a shot at Rocky , he did get a title match. In May 1955 he faced Archie Moore in Las Vegas for recognition by Nevada as world champion, but lost on points to the “old Mongoose”.  That was to be as close as Nino got to a shot at the title. However, later in the year he started his one man demolition of the English heavyweights. In September at the White City Stadium he floored and cut Don Cockell on the way to a third round stoppage. In December 1956 he came over to London's Harringay Arena where he halted Dick Richardson in eight rounds and in February 1957 it was the turn of unbeaten Joe Erskine who was kayoed in the first round in the Earls Court Arena. He completed the clean sweep in his last pro fight in December 1959, stopping Brian London in seven rounds, leaving Henry Cooper as the only heavyweight of note in that era that he did not beat. In between the Cockell win in 1955 and his retirement in 1959, he continued to fight at the very highest level beating world rated fighters such as Hans Friedrich and John Holman. In a sequence in 1958 he beat Wayne Bethea, Mike DeJohn(twice), Johnny Summerlin, Harold Carter and Pat McMurty, to gain the number one rating, but there was no way that Cus D'Amato was going to let Floyd Patterson fight him. It all unravelled in March 1959 when in a huge upset, former pro footballer Charlie Powell floored Nino three times and halted him in eight rounds. Nino knew his chance had gone completely when Sonny Liston looked awesome in crushing the Cuban in three rounds in August 1959. Nino was never a big heavyweight by today's standards . Although he was 6'3” tall he generally weighed around 14 ˝ stone. He was a devastating puncher but did not have the best chin, but no other heavyweight until Muhammad Ali did as much damage to British heavyweight boxing as Nino. Career Record: 71 fights, 48 wins, 19 losses, 3 draws, 1 no contest Today Juan Carlos Gomez Post-Castro very few of the very best of Cuba's amateurs managed to flee the coop. One exception was southpaw Juan Carlos Gomez, “The Black Panther”. One of ten children, and also born in Havana, on June 27 1973, Juan Carlos was one of the coming stars of the Cuban team after winning the gold medal at 75kgs in the 1999 World Junior Championships and the Cuban National title in 1995 at 81kgs. However, he defected when representing Cuba at the Chemical Cup in Halle Germany in the same year. At the time his amateur record was given as 158 wins and 12 losses and as he was just 21 it was a big blow to the Cubans. Juan Carlos turned pro in Germany in May 1995 as a cruiserweight with a points win over Dale Jackson and proceeded to win his next 21 contests, 19 inside the distance. In February 1998, he won the WBC cruiserweight title with a points win over Argentinian Marcelo Dominguez and made ten defences of the title beating guys such as Guy Waters, Dominguez again, Bruce Scott, Imamau Mayfield, Jorge Castro and Pietro Aurino. In February 2002, he relinquished the title and moved up to heavyweight. Contract disputes saw him inactive from August 2002 though to September 2003 when he met former stable mate Sinan Samil Sam in Buffalo. Despite flooring Sam in the first round and winning a wide points verdict Juan Carlos did not really impress at the heavier weight. Poundage. His career stalled, and it was another eleven months before he fought again, and this time unknown fellow-defector Yamplier Azcuy Diaz played the “ Charlie Powell” role. On August 13 in Laredo, Texas, Yamplier caught Juan Carlos cold with an overhand right in the first minute, and kept pouring in punches until the referee called a halt after just 106 shocking seconds. That loss sent Juan Carlos back to Germany where he signed up with Ahmet Oner's Arena group and slowly rebuilt his career. Although he would not be Juan Carlos if there was not a problem even then and he had to beat Oliver McCall twice after failing the drugs test after their first fight. He has collected the Latino, PABA and WBC International titles along the way, but more importantly the (second) win over McCall was an eliminator for the WBC title and he is one fight away from a shot at new champion Samuel Peter. A beautiful boxer with a smooth style and a real punch (35 wins inside the distance), the 34-year-old Cuban has the skills to become Cuba's first ever world heavyweight champion and you feel that perhaps only Juan Carlos Gomez can stop him from doing so. Record: 45 fights, won 43, lost 1, no contest 1. Tomorrow Odlanier Solis If the defection of Juan Carlos Gomez was a blow to Cuban boxing, it was nothing compared to the loss of Odlanier Solis Fonte. His list of victories in major events put him right at the top of amateur boxing when he fled. Seven -time Cuban national Champion, World Junior Champion, three-time World Champion, three-time Pan American Champion and Olympic Champion. When you add to this his two victories over the legendary Felix Savon, a stoppage of David Haye and a record of only 14 losses in 250 fights you have one of the most accomplished amateurs of all time. Born in Havana on 5th April 1980 Odlanier finally shed the vest and made a break for the freedom to fight professionally when representing Cuba at the 2007 Pan American Games, and like Gomez he is also with Ahmet Oner. He had his first pro fight in April last year and, in an indication of how confident his team is, faced former German champion Andreas Sidon, a veteran with 39 fights behind him. The “test” lasted just 47 seconds. Next up was former top amateur Alex Mazikin, a double Olympian who had lost to Audley Harrison in Sydney and was 10-1 as a pro. Just 43 seconds later he was merely victim number two. After that whirlwind start, Odlanier has settled down a bit with six more wins , three of those going the distance, but every one of those opponents has had a positive record(won more than they have lost). He is just under 6'2” and weighs in around 17 stones, so he is a physical match for today's big boys. The next step is some exposure in the USA-where they don't seem to have any heavyweights of their own any more- and if he is a big hit there and if Juan Carlos Gomez slips up then by 2009 Odlanier Solis could be the first Cuban heavyweight champion of the world. Don't bet against it. Record: 8 fights 8 wins

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