NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport

US, Cuba boxers renew old rivalry in Havana

AP
5 Apr, 2014 04:50 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

HAVANA (AP) Boxers from the U.S. and Cuba have gone glove-to-glove on Cuban soil for the first time in 27 years in a semipro World Series of Boxing clash that in many ways resembled a big-time Las Vegas bout.

After a reggaeton duo got the crowd revved up Friday night, boxers entered Havana's Sport City arena through the haze of smoke machines and flashing lights. In between the action, models circled the ring holding up round cards as huge flat-screen displays showed replays of crunching jabs and uppercuts.

"I am prepared for a tough match and I want a tough match," Mohamed Salah, a welterweight who fights for the USA Knockouts, said at the weigh-in. "That's why I am here, and I am excited to be here. ... I'm a real boxer."

Cuba's entry into the 12-team international semipro league last year marked a major departure from more than 50 years during which professional sports were banned on the island. As recently as 2005, Fidel Castro railed against the "parasites that feed off the athlete's hard work" when money is involved with sports.

But since younger brother Raul Castro took over the presidency, Cuba has not only joined the World Series of Boxing but announced that athletes from other sports will be allowed to sign contracts to compete overseas as long as they fulfill their duties to national teams.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Cuba and the United States met each year in boxing from 1977 to 1995, though the last time they did so on the island was in 1987. Cuba won all of those encounters except in 1991, when a squad featuring a teenage Oscar de la Hoya managed a 6-6 tie in Fort Bragg, California.

"We know it is a traditional clash that always recalls connotations that can be bigger than sports," two-time world lightweight champ Cuban Lazaro Alvarez told the online magazine OnCuba recently. "Against the United States one always enjoys a win more and suffers a defeat more. But in my experience, until now, we have always beaten them."

Friday's matches were the first of a home-and-away series between the Knockouts and the Wranglers of Cuba.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Several hundred spectators turned out to cheer on the home team even though Havana's baseball club was playing the same night for a chance in the playoff finals.

The U.S. leg was originally set for March 28 in South Florida, the cradle of the Cuban exile community, but it was postponed days before the bouts were to take place. It was rescheduled for April 12 in Salem, New Hampshire, the Cuban Federation of Boxing says.

Cultural and athletic exchanges between Cuba and the U.S. have become increasingly common in recent years.

Sixteen years after a regular baseball series between Cuba and the United States was called off, a team of American collegian all-stars visited the island in 2012. The Cubans reciprocated the following year.

Despite being based in the United States, the Knockouts boxing squad that came to Cuba had a distinctly international flavor. Two of the five pugilists are originally from Venezuela, and there was one each from Brazil and Sweden.

This island of some 11 million inhabitants has a rich boxing tradition and often punches above its weight at international amateur tournaments.

World Series of Boxing fighters compete for sponsored teams and do not wear headgear during bouts, unlike amateur competition. They earn about $1,000 to $3,000 a month which would be a big raise for the Cubans, though how much the Wranglers make has not explicitly been made public.

Cuba won Friday's bouts 5-0, with one knockout and four technical decisions. The winner of the series goes on to face either Ukraine or Russia on April 25 and May 2 for a ticket to the finals.

"It's exciting for everyone to have a direct clash with the United States, known for its sporting strength and traditional quality in boxing," said Rolando Acebal, the Cuban coach. "Everyone wants to have their best performance and put on a good show."

___

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Associated Press writer Peter Orsi contributed to this report.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

All BlacksUpdated

All Blacks captain ruled out for remainder of French series

08 Jul 11:55 AM
Auckland FC

Billionaire-backed Western Springs stadium bid pulled from race

07 Jul 10:00 PM
All Blacks

'I loved it': Roigard celebrates milestone in All Blacks win

07 Jul 09:30 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

All Blacks captain ruled out for remainder of French series

All Blacks captain ruled out for remainder of French series

08 Jul 11:55 AM

Scott Barrett left the field 57 minutes into the win over France in Dunedin.

Billionaire-backed Western Springs stadium bid pulled from race

Billionaire-backed Western Springs stadium bid pulled from race

07 Jul 10:00 PM
'I loved it': Roigard celebrates milestone in All Blacks win

'I loved it': Roigard celebrates milestone in All Blacks win

07 Jul 09:30 PM
Nonu extends Toulon deal, aged 43

Nonu extends Toulon deal, aged 43

07 Jul 07:05 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP