Ángel Herrera

1982 in Halle: Ángel Herrera (left) is defeated by Siegfried Mehnert on points

Ángel Herrera Vera (born August 2, 1957 in Guantánamo ) is a former Cuban boxer . Herrera was world champion in 1978 and 1982 and Olympic champion in 1976 and 1980 .

Career

Herrera was Cuban champion in 1977, 1978, and 1979 in featherweight (-57 kg) and 1982, 1983 and 1984 in lightweight (-60 kg).

In 1976, at the age of 18, he took part in the Olympic Games in Montreal and after victories over Rai Sik, India (KO 1st), Angel Pacheco, Venezuela (5: 0), Dave Armstrong, USA (3: 2), Juan Paredes, Mexico (5-0) surprisingly won the gold medal in the featherweight division , in the final he defeated the favored representative of the GDR , Richard Nowakowski.

In 1977 Herrera won the Central American and Caribbean Games and the silver medal at the Army Championships of the Eastern Bloc behind Viktor Rybakov, and the following year the World Championships . After defeats in the Pan American Games in 1979 against Bernard Taylor, USA (5-0), and in the Cuban Championships against Adolfo Horta , he rose to the lightweight, and won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in this weight class. Herrera defeated Carlo Russollilo, Italy (5: 0), Geza Tumbas, Yugoslavia (5: 0), Galsandordschiin Batbileg , Mongolia (5: 0), Kazimierz Adach , Poland (5: 0), and Wiktor Demjanenko , Soviet Union (RSC 3.).

In 1981 Herrera won the North American Championships with a final victory over Vinny Pazienza , USA, and in the same year the World Cup in Montreal with a revenge victory against Rybakov. The following year he won the World Championships with a final victory over Pernell Whitaker , USA (3-2). After he was defeated in 1983 Whitaker in the final at the Pan American Games, which prevented Olympic boycott of Cuba, another Olympic participation Herrera. In the alternative friendship competitions, Herrera won the gold medal with a final victory over Nergüin Enchbat , Mongolia (3: 2).

After this last success, Herrera ended his career. Today he lives in modest circumstances in Alamar, Habana del Este . He rents the car he received for his successes to earn a living.

Web links

• Herrera's most important fights ( Memento from October 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish)

• Angel Herrera vs. Viktor Demyanenko (Final Olympic Games 1980)