Roniel Iglesias

Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo (born August 14, 1988 in Pinar del Río ) is a Cuban boxer . He was Pan American Champion in 2008, 2009 and 2010, winner of the Pan American Games in 2011 , bronze medalist at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 , world champion in 2009 and Olympic champion in 2012 .

Career

Roniel Iglesias comes from a boxing family. He started boxing at a young age and at the age of 16 was not only one of the best Cuban junior boxers, but also one of the best Cuban seniors. He starts for the Pinar del Río performance center. In 2005, not yet 17 years old, he started at the Cuban Seniors Flyweight Championships and, to the surprise of all experts, after defeating five boxers, some of them much older, won the final over Kadel Luis on points (27: 8) Cuban senior champion. However, he benefited from the fact that the Cuban world champion in this weight class Yuriolkis Gamboa had to give up due to injury during the tournament. Also at the big boxing tournament of the Cuban boxing association Giraldo Córdova Cardín in Havana , he won the flyweight and defeated Yoandri Salina, Mirzhan Rachim Ishanow from Kazakhstan and again Kadel Luis on points.

However, at the Pan-American Championships in 2005 in Teresopolis / Brazil he was eliminated after defeating Aaron Cumberbatch from Trinidad in the semifinals with a point defeat against the Brazilian Helder Gonzaga, but won the bronze medal in the flyweight division. In the same year he was defeated in an international match in Sannois / France to the French Jerome Thomas on points.

In 2006, Roniel Iglesias finished 3rd in the Cuban bantamweight championships after losing clearly on points (11:28) in the semifinals against Idel Torriente . At the subsequent 3rd Cuban Olympiad in Havana, he started in featherweight and defeated his strong compatriot Ivan Onate on points. In the quarter-finals of this tournament he was defeated by the Chinese Li Yang just on points (9:11) and was eliminated. Since he was growing quickly, he quickly had problems starting in the lower weight classes. So he did the only right thing and moved up into the weight classes that corresponded to his size. For this reason he started at the Junior World Championship 2006 in Agadir in the lightweight. He also got along brilliantly in this weight class and was finished with a points win (33:15) over Dario Vangeli from Italy , a demolition win over Ruiz, Pakistan , a point win (39:24) over Everton Lopes, Brazil, a demolition victory over Imil Iksanow Russia and a point win (39:18) over Azamat Smagulow from Kazakhstan Junior World Champion .

At the Cuban Championship in 2007 he started in the lightweight and won over Yoendri Leyva, Orelis Pérez and Vladimir Díaz. In the final, however, he was clearly defeated by the reigning world champion Yordenis Ugás on points (8:21) and had to be content with the vice-championship title. Against the same boxer he was defeated in the final of the Giraldo Córdova Cardín tournament in Santa Clara (6:15). This prevented him from going to the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro and to the 2007 World Championships in Chicago , because Yordenis Ugas had proven himself to be the best Cuban lightweight boxer that year. He started in 2007 at the Batalla de Carabobo tournament in Venezuela , but suffered a surprising loss of points (10:26) against the Venezuelan Jesús Quadro in his first fight.

The year 2007 ended in Cuba with the Championship of Competence Centers, in which the best Cuban boxers faced each other. Roniel Iglesias celebrated five victories in five fights that he had to contest in the lightweight, defeating Yordi Odelin, Exer Rodríguez, Elecier Valle, Yoendris Leyva and Luis Franco .

After winning the Cuban championship in flyweight in 2005, Roniel Iglesias won his second Cuban championship in 2008, but four weight classes higher, in light welterweight. His final opponent was Hector Frometa, who defeated by breaking off in the 2nd round. He then won the 4th Cuban Olympiad in Havana with a final victory over his compatriot Richard Poll , whom he cleared with 8: 1 goals. Roniel Iglesias also showed himself in excellent form at the very important qualification tournament for American boxers for the 2008 Olympic Games in Port of Spain / Trinidad . There he defeated Jesse Vargas from Mexico in the light welterweight division on points (25: 8), won the third round over Luis González from Puerto Rico and then beat Javier Molina from the USA (10: 4) and Johnny Sánchez from Venezuela (9 : 3) according to points, with which he was tournament winner and had the Olympic qualification in his pocket.

During a subsequent trip to Europe for the Cuban national team, things didn't go well for him. At the Grand Prix tournament in Ústí nad Labem ( Aussig ) he was surprisingly defeated by the Australian Todd Kidd on points (17:22) and at the Strandja tournament in Plovdiv / Bulgaria in the final of the light welterweight division of Boris Georgiev from Bulgaria, he was quite clear on points (8 : 26) defeated. Back in America he lost to Batalla de Carabobo in his first fight against Jesús Quadro from Venezuela on points (10:26), although the amount of his points deficit was astonishing. He then proved that he can still win at the Pan American Championship in Cuenca / Ecuador in 2008 , where he won the light welterweight title with victories over Ualace Almeida, Brazil, Mario Agua Ale Castro from Ecuador and Victor Pinango from Venezuela.

At the games in Beijing he won over Babou Mahaman Smaila, Cameroon (15: 1), Driss Moussaid, Morocco (15: 4) and Gennadi Kowaljew , Russia (5: 2) safely on points. In the semifinals he was defeated by Manus Boonjumnong from Thailand on points (5:10) and won a bronze medal . At the end of 2008 he won a tournament at the World Cup in Moscow . There he defeated Romal Amanow, Azerbaijan (18: 6), Alexander Ivanov , Russia (18: 6) and Urantschimegiin Mönch-Erdene , Mongolia (16: 2), each clearly on points.

In 2009 Roniel Iglesias started at the Boxing World Championship in Milan after he had already won the Pan-American Championships with a final victory over Ramses Garcia, Mexico (12: 5) . He came to five wins there, u. a. in the semifinals against Urantschimegiin Mönch-Erdene, Mongolia (6: 4), and won the final convincingly against the only 17-year-old American Frankie Gomez (8: 2), which crowned his career so far by winning the world title.

In 2010 Iglesias again won the Pan-American Championships with a final win over Juan Pablo Romero, Mexico (10-2), and the following year the Pan-American Games with a final win over Valentino Knowles, Bahamas (22:14). At the world championships in the same year, Iglesias surprisingly lost his first fight against the eventual vice world champion Denys Berinchyk , Ukraine (+19: 19). He made up for the missed qualification for the Olympic Games in 2012 at the American Olympic qualification tournament in Rio de Janeiro , where he won after winning a. a. took first place in the semifinals against César Villarraga , Colombia (14: 7), and in the final against Francisco Vargas , Puerto Rico (12: 7), thus qualifying for the Olympic Games in London .

At the Olympic Games, he beat César Villarraga , Colombia (20: 9) in the preliminary round, the reigning world champion Éverton Lopes , Brazil (18:15) in the round of 16 , in the quarter-finals against Oʻktamjon Raxmonov , Uzbekistan (21:15), and in the semi-finals the World Cup third Vincenzo Mangiacapre , Italy (15: 8). In the final, he then beat Denys Berinchyk , Ukraine (22:15), in return for the early defeat at the world championships last year and won the Olympic gold medal in the light welterweight division . Iglesias ended the year by winning the national championships.

After serving a year-long competition ban by the Cuban Boxing Association from August 2013 due to unspecified "lack of discipline", Iglesias won the Central America and Caribbean Games in Veracruz in 2014 .

At the 2015 World Championships in Doha , he was eliminated in the quarter-finals against Pərviz Bağırov .

International success

Note: OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight, up to 51 kg, 54 kg, 57 kg, 60 kg etc. 64 kg body weight

year	space	competition	Weight class
2005	1.	Giraldo Córdova Cardín tournament in Havana	To fly	before Kadel Luis, Cuba a . Mirzhan Rachim Ishanow, Kazakhstan
2005	2.	Intern. Tournament Battle of Stalingrad in Volgograd	To fly	behind Samir Mamedow, Kazakhstan a. in front of Evgeni Nesterenko, Russia
2005	3.	Pan-American Championship in Teresopolis / Brazil	To fly	behind Juan Carlos Payano, Dom. Rep. U. Helder Gonzaga, Brazil, together with Juan Vega, Ecuador
2006	5.	3rd Cuban Olympics in Havana	feather	behind Yuriorkis Gamboa u. Luis Franco , bde. Cuba, Yeldos Saidalin, Kazakhstan a . Li Yang, China
2006	1.	Junior World Championships in Agadir	Light	in front of Azamat Smagulow, Kazakhstan a. Imil Iksanow, Russia
2007	2.	Giraldo Córdova Cardín tournament in Santa Clara	Light	behind Yordenis Ugás , Kuba u. in front of Darley Pérez, Colombia
2008	1.	4th Cuban Olympics in Havana	Half-worlds	before Richard Poll u. Jorge Moiran Vinet, bde. Cuba
2008	1.	Qualification tournament for the 2008 Olympic Games in Port of Spain / Trinidad	Half-worlds	before Johnny Sánchez, Venezuela a. Javier Molina , USA
2008	2.	Strandjata tournament in Plovdiv / Bulgaria	Half-worlds	behind Boris Georgiew, Bulgaria a. in front of Dulat Borankulow, Kazakhstan
2008	1.	Pan American Championship in Cuenca / Ecuador	Half-worlds	before Víctor Pinango, Venezuela a. Mario Agua Ale Castro, Ecuador
2008	bronze	OS in Beijing	Half-worlds	after winning points over Babou Mahaman Smaila, Cameroon (15: 1), Driss Moussaid, Morocco (15: 4) and Gennadi Kowaljew , Russia (5: 2) u. a point defeat in the semifinals against Manus Boonjumnong , Thailand (5:10)
2008	1.	World Cup in Moscow	Half-worlds	with points wins over Romal Amanow, Azerbaijan (18: 6), Alexander Iwanow , Russia (18: 6) and Urantschimegiin Mönch-Erdene , Mongolia (16: 2)
2009	2.	"Giraldo Córdova Cardin" tournament in Sancti Spíritus / Cuba	Half-worlds	with points victory over Yudennis Thaureaux u. Point defeat to Richard Poll (2: 6), bde. Cuba
2009	1.	"Batalla de Carabobo" in Valencia / Venezuela	Half-worlds	with a demolition victory in the 2nd round over Samuel Zapata, a victory without a fight over Jose Morales u. Point wins over Angel Molero u. Victor Pinango, all Venezuela
2009	1.	Pan American Championship in Mexico City	Half-worlds	with points wins over Samuel Figueroa, Puerto Rico (11: 6), Myke Carvalho, Brazil (10: 7) and Ramses Garcia, Mexico (12: 5)
2009	1.	World Cup in Milan	Half-worlds	with points wins over Brice Rotaric Bassole, Burkina Faso u. Madadi Nagzibekow, Tajikistan (15: 1), a demolition win due to Injury in the 3rd round over Scot Candle, England a . Point wins over Urantschimegiin Mönch-Erdene , Mongolia (6: 4) and Frankie Gomez , USA (8: 2)

International battles

year	place	encounter	Weight class	Result
2005	Sannois	France versus Cuba	To fly	Point defeat against Jerome Thomas
2008	Havana	Cuba versus France	Half-worlds	Points winner over Alexis Vastine
2009	Milan	Italy versus Cuba	Half-worlds	Points winner over Renato De Donato
2009	Modena	Italy versus Cuba	Half-worlds	Points winner over Dario Vangeli
2009	Paris	France versus Cuba	Half-worlds	Points winner over Adriani Vastine (7: 2)
2009	La Teste-de-Buch	France versus Cuba	Half-worlds	Points winner over Hassan Amzile (8: 4)
2009	Levallois	France versus Cuba	Half-worlds	Point defeat against Alexis Vastine (5:10)

Cuban championships

year	space	Weight class	Result
2005	1.	To fly	Points winner (27: 8) in the final over Kadel Luis
2006	3.	Bantam	Point defeat (11:28) against Idel Torriente (in the semifinals)
2007	2.	Light	Point defeat (8:21) in the final against Yordenis Ugás
2008	1.	Half-worlds	Demolition winner in the final over Héctor Frómeta
2009	2.	Half-worlds	Point defeat (9:12) in the final against Yordenis Ugás

Web links

• Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo in the official Cuban online encyclopedia EcuRed (Spanish)

swell

• Box Sport trade journal from 2005 to 2008,
• Website "www.amateur-boxing.strefa.pl",
• Website "sports123.com"

Remarks

1. ↑ The spelling Rosniel is occasionally used for his first name .
2. ↑ Luis Oliva sustituye a Roniel Iglesias  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ,   in: JIT Online from August 28, 2013 (Spanish)
3. ↑ Cuba ban Olympic champion Iglesias for 'indiscipline' , in: News Track India from August 29, 2013 (English)