Biography

Early years

Stevenson was born in Puerto Padre, Cuba.[1] His father Teófilo Stevenson Patterson was an immigrant from Saint Vincent. His mother Dolores Lawrence was a native Cuban, but her parents were immigrants from Anglophone island Saint Kitts. Teófilo senior arrived in Cuba in 1923, finding work wherever he could, before settling in Camagüey with Dolores, where he gave English lessons to top up his meagre earnings. Due to his large size, Teófilo senior was encouraged into boxing by local trainers, fighting seven times before becoming disillusioned by the corrupt payment structure on offer to young fighters.[2]

Teófilo junior was a restless but bright child who at nine years old soon found himself sparring at the makeshift open-air gym his father had frequented.[3][2] Under the tutelage of former national light heavy-weight champion John Herrera, the young Stevenson began his career fighting far more experienced boxers, but according to Herrera, "had what it took". Despite his growing involvement in the sport, Stevenson had yet to tell his mother about his activities. Eventually Teófilo senior broke the news to his wife, who was furious; but she agreed to acquiesce on the proviso that the boy was accompanied by his father.[2]

[edit] Early Boxing Career

The young Stevenson continued to improve under Herrera in the mid 1960s, winning a junior title and gaining additional training in Havana. His victories drew the attention of Andrei Chervonenko, a leading coach in Cuba's newly implemented state sports system. Professional sport throughout the island had been outlawed since 1962 by government resolution 83-A, and all boxing activity had come under the guidance of the government sponsored National Boxing Commission.[4] Chernevenko, a former boxer from Moscow sent by the Soviet Union, who had created Cuba's Escuela de Boxeo (Boxing school) in a derelict old gym in Havana, began to champion Stevenson's progress.[5]

Stevenson's senior boxing career began at aged seventeen with a defeat in the national championships against the experienced heavyweight Gabriel Garcia. Despite the setback, Stevenson went on to register convincing victories over Nancio Carillo and Juan Perez, two of Cuba's finest boxers in the weight division, securing a place in the national team for the 1970 Central American Championships. Defeat in the final after three victories was considered no shame, and Stevenson firmly established himself as Cuba's premier heavyweight. Back in the gym Chervonenko and leading Cuban boxing coach Alcides Sagarra worked on Stevenson's jab, which paid dividends when the Cuban easily defeated East Germany's Bernd Andern in front of a surprised Berlin crowd. The victory made the entire amateur boxing world take notice of Stevenson as a serious heavyweight contender.[6]

[edit] Munich Olympics 1972
Commemorative coins from the Munich Olympics 1972
Commemorative coins from the Munich Olympics 1972

Stevenson, now twenty, joined the Cuban boxing team for the Munich Olympics of 1972 with high hopes resting on his performance. His opening bout against experienced Polish fighter Ludwik Denderys began dramatically when Stevenson knocked the other man down within thirty seconds of the opening bell. The fight was stopped moments later due to a large cut next to the Pole's eye.

Proceeding to the quarter finals, Stevenson met fancied American boxer Duane Bobick. Bobick, a gold medalist at the 1971 Pan American Games, had beaten Stevenson previously, and was considered favorite to continue the U.S. team's dominance of the weight division; previous American gold medalists included George Foreman (1968) and Joe Frazier (1964). After a close first round, Stevenson lost the second, but a ferocious display in the third round knocked Bobick to the canvas three times and the contest was stopped. The victory was viewed on television throughout Cuba, and is still considered Stevenson's most memorable performance.

Stevenson easily defeated German Peter Hussing in the semi final, and received his gold medal after Ion Alexe failed to appear in the final due to injury. The Cuban boxing team won three gold medals, their first in Olympic boxing history, as well as one silver and one bronze medal. The Munich games established Cuba's dominance over the amateur sport that was to last decades. It also established Stevenson as the world's premier amateur heavyweight boxer.

[edit] Other major games
Commemorative badges from the Moscow Olympics 1980
Commemorative badges from the Moscow Olympics 1980

Stevenson did the same at the inaugural 1974 World Championships in Havana, Cuba, and then in the 1976 Summer Olympics, held in Montreal, Stevenson repeated the feat once again. By then, he had become a national hero in Cuba, where he had become a household name. This was the point where he was the closest to signing a professional contract, American fight promoters offering him the amount of five million dollars to challenge world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in his first professional bout, which would have made him the second boxer to go straight from the Olympics into a professional debut with the world's Heavyweight crown on the line, after Pete Rademacher. But he refused, asking "What is one million dollars compared to the love of eight million Cubans?"[7] Stevenson went to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and became the second boxer ever, after Papp, to win three Olympic boxing gold medals. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Félix Savón, also from Cuba, became the third boxer to achieve this.
Teófilo Stevenson wins
Teófilo Stevenson wins

Stevenson might have won a fourth gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, but the Soviet Union boycotted the games in retaliation for the United States boycott of the 1980 Moscow competition. Cuba followed the Soviet's lead, and Stevenson was deprived of the chance to earn a fourth gold. For consolation, he beat the Olympic champion Tyrell Biggs in February 1984. He retired from boxing shortly after the olympics. During his career as a boxer, he has won 302 fights and lost only 22.

Stevenson was named coach of Cuba's amateur boxing program, and Cuban President Fidel Castro presented him with a mansion in an exclusive residential area. When Stevenson refused to turn professional and fight Ali, the heavyweight scene was vibrant, with fighters of the calibre of Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, George Foreman and Joe Frazier competing. Stevenson would certainly have stirred up the professional boxing world, and fight fans continue to debate the possible outcomes had he fought in the halcyon days of heavyweight boxing.

[edit] After retirement

In 1999, Stevenson was arrested at Miami International Airport when, before boarding a United Airlines chartered jet that would take the Cuban national boxing team home, he allegedly headbutted a 41 year old United ticket counter employee, causing him to break his teeth. According to Stevenson, an "agitator" approached him at the airport shouting insults against the Cuban government and other Cuban subjects. Stevenson failed to attend the subsequent court proceedings, having travelled to Havana after his release from custody whilst on bail. The Cuban state newspaper Trabajadores blamed what it described as the Miami mafia for provoking the incident, alleging that the Cuban American National Foundation organised a public gathering to abuse Stevenson when he returned to Miami airport after his arrest. The newspaper believed that the motives for the alleged provocation were "again to ruin a Cuban sports star".


Medal record
Men's Boxing
Competitor for Flag of Cuba Cuba
Olympic Games
Gold    1972 Munich    Heavyweight
Gold    1976 Montreal    Heavyweight
Gold    1980 Moscow    Heavyweight
World Amateur Championships
Gold    1974 Havana    Heavyweight
Gold    1978 Belgrade    Heavyweight
Gold    1986 Reno    Super Heavyweight
Pan American Games
Bronze    1971 Cali    Heavyweight
Gold    1975 Mexico City    Heavyweight
Gold    1979 San Juan    Heavyweight

Source: Wikipedia

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