Mario Kindelán

Mario César Kindelán Mesa (born September 10, 1971 in Palma Soriano , Cuba ) is a former Cuban amateur boxer.

career

Kindelán played his first amateur fight in 1987 in light flyweight, the weight class up to 48 kg. His first success was a victory at the national school championships, then in 1988 he won the bantamweight division at the Cuban junior championships. The following year he was scheduled for participation in the Junior World Championships, which he was denied due to an injury. At the Cuban Championships in 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1995 he came third and in 1994 second. From 1999 to 2003 he was national champion five times in a row.

In 1995 he was tested positive in a doping control in preparation for the Pan American Games in Mar del Plata and was then banned by the AIBA . He then ended his career but returned to the ring in 1998. It was only in this second phase of his career that he achieved greater success.

Kindelán won the amateur world lightweight championship three times in his career: 1999 in Houston , 2001 in Belfast and 2003 in Bangkok .

He also won two gold medals in the Olympic boxing tournament: at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney he prevailed on points against Andreas Kotelnik from Ukraine in the final , and at the 2004 Games he defeated Amir Khan in the final .

More Achievements

• World Cup: 1998, 2002
• Pan American Games : 1999 and 2003
• Central American and Caribbean Games: 1993, 1998 (final victory over Miguel Cotto )
• Goodwill Games : 1998, 2001
• Chemistry Cup : 2004

Kindelán won 358 fights in his career with 22 defeats, his last fight was a loss to Amir Khan on May 14, 2005 as part of an international match between England and Cuba. This was also Khan's last amateur fight before he switched to the professional camp.

Web links

• Kindelán's most important fights (Spanish)