Teófilo Stevenson

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Teófilo Stevenson signs autographs (1985)
Stevenson (right outside) won the 1984 cup at a boxing tournament in Halle / Saale

Teófilo Francisco Stevenson Lawrence (born March 29, 1952 in Puerto Padre , Las Tunas , † June 11, 2012 in Havana ) was a Cuban amateur boxer and three-time Olympic and world champion .

Career

Teófilo Stevenson began his boxing career in 1966 at the age of fourteen in the light middleweight division with a loss. Of his first twenty fights, he lost fourteen. The German boxing trainer Kurt Rosentritt and the Russian Andrej Chervonenko, who were active in promoting top-class Cuban boxing in the 1960s, were counted among his discoverers and key sponsors. Promoted to the heavyweight division, he became Cuban junior champion in 1968. A year later he reached the final of the Cuban national championship, but lost. Between 1972 and 1986 Stevenson was eleven times Cuban champion. His first international success came with winning the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Havana in September 1970; a title he won seven times in his career.

Olympic games

In 1972 Stevenson took part in the Olympic Games in Munich . In the semifinals he beat Peter Hussing and became Olympic champion for the first time after his final opponent could not compete due to injury. For his convincing performance, he was also the first Cuban boxer to be awarded the Val Barker Cup . At the 1976 Games in Montreal and at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow , he defended his title and became the second boxer after László Papp to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since then, this achievement has only been achieved by the Cuban Félix Savón . Stevenson had no chance of a fourth Olympic victory due to the Cuban boycott of the Los Angeles Games in 1984.

World championships

Stevenson has been AIBA world champion three times . For the first time he won the title in 1974 at the first boxing world championship for amateurs in Havana , again beating Peter Hussing in the quarterfinals. At the 1978 World Cup in Belgrade , he was able to defend his title and sat down a. a. against Tony Tubbs . After the introduction of the super heavyweight, he started in this weight class in 1981. In 1986 he won the super heavyweight title in Reno .

Others

Stevenson's father of the same name immigrated to Cuba from St. Vincent in the 1920s ; his mother, Dolores Lawrence, was a Cuban whose parents came from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts .

One of the few boxers who managed to defeat Stevenson were two Germans, Bernd Anders and Ulli Kaden : Anders ( SC Dynamo Berlin ) defeated Stevenson in the heavyweight final of the Giraldo-Córdova-Cardín tournament in Havana, Kaden, in October 1970 ( SG Wismut Gera ) was even able to achieve three wins against Stevenson in the 1980s (with six defeats).

There were in the 1970s, similar to later with Félix Savón , offers to Stevenson to play against the professional world champions Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali . Stevenson was not averse to the comparison with Ali, but did not want to lose his amateur status and violate the 1962 prohibition of all professional sport by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro . Despite several serious attempts, this fight did not materialize.

After Stevenson defeated his first opponent in 30 seconds on the way to his first gold in Munich in 1972 and successfully defended his gold medal in Montreal in 1976 and in Moscow in 1980, several boxing promoters wanted to lure him into the professional camp with increasing sums of millions, but he refused. It was then that he made the oft-quoted saying, "What is a million dollars versus eight million Cubans who love me?"

After his career he stayed connected to boxing and worked as a trainer in the youth field. Most recently he was active as a functionary in the Cuban boxing association and its vice-president.

While visiting the United States in October 1999, Stevenson headbutted a United Airlines employee at Miami Airport to injuries to his incisors and mouth after he later said he was provoked by derogatory remarks about Fidel Castro. He was arrested by several police officers against his active resistance and was only released on bail of US $ 12,500. He escaped trial by escaping to Cuba without permission.

Teófilo Stevenson was under medical treatment for heart problems caused by blood clots. On June 11, 2012, he unexpectedly died of a heart attack as a result of acute ischemia .

Muhammad Ali paid tribute to Stevenson: "Although he has never fought professionally, having won three gold medals at three different Olympics guarantees that he would have been a great opponent for any reigning heavyweight champion or challenger at his best . I will always remember meeting the great Teófilo in his home town of Cuba. He was one of the greats in the world and at the same time was a warm-hearted man who could be hugged. "

Fidel Castro stated: "No other amateur boxer in the history of the sport has distinguished himself as much as he has. He could have won two other Olympic titles if it had not been prevented by duties imposed by the internationalist principles of the revolution. No money the world could have bribed Stevenson. "

Stevenson left behind a wife and two children. He was buried in the Cementerio Cristóbal Colón cemetery in Havana.

successes

Record: 302 wins - 22 defeats

  • Cuban Junior Champion: 1968
  • Cuban Master: 1972–1974, 1976, 1978–1982, 1984, 1986
  • Winner of the "Giraldo Córdova Cardín" tournament: 1971, 1972, 1974–1979, 1982
  • Chemistry Cup winners : 1972, 1979, 1984
  • Central American and Caribbean Champion: 1970–1974, 1977, 1982
  • Central American and Caribbean Games winners: 1974, 1982
  • Pan American Games winners : 1975, 1979
  • World champions: 1974, 1978, 1986
  • Olympic champion: 1972, 1976, 1980

Web links

Commons : Teófilo Stevenson  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Rosentritt: A proud man. In: Tagesspiegel. June 15, 2012, accessed February 14, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Giraldo Córdova Cardín 1970 , in: Amateur Boxing Results , accessed on August 23, 2012 (English)
  3. ↑  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ), on the website of BC Wismut Gera, accessed on 23 August 2012@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / bc-wismut-gera.de
  4. ↑ Andrew Cawthorne (Reuters): Accused Cuban boxer "provoked" by insults to Castro ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) in: Cubanet of November 9, 1999, accessed on June 12, 2012 (English)
  5. ^ Charlie Nobles: Stevenson of Cuba Arrested in Miami. In: The New York Times . October 24, 1999, accessed June 12, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Cuban boxing legend: Olympic champion Stevenson dead. June 12, 2012, accessed on June 12, 2012 .
  7. ↑ Three-time Olympic boxing champion Teófilo Stevenson has died. In: Stern.de . dpa press release, June 12, 2012, archived from the original on June 15, 2012 ; Retrieved June 12, 2012 .
  8. ↑ Granma Internacional, 8/2012, p. 15
  9. ↑  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / de.cubadebate.cu
personal data
SURNAME Stevenson, Teófilo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stevenson Lawrence, Teófilo; Stevenson, Teófilo Fio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION cuban boxer
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Puerto Padre
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 2012
Place of death Havana