The Most Famous

BOXERS from Cuba

This page contains a list of the greatest Cuban Boxers. The pantheon dataset contains 496 Boxers, 21 of which were born in Cuba. This makes Cuba the birth place of the 3rd most number of Boxers behind United States, and United Kingdom.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Cuban Boxers of all time. This list of famous Cuban Boxers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Cuban Boxers.

1. Teófilo Stevenson (1952 - 2012)

With an HPI of 59.37, Teófilo Stevenson is the most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 42 different languages on wikipedia.

Teófilo Stevenson Lawrence (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈofilo steˈβenson]; 29 March 1952 – 11 June 2012) was a Cuban engineer and amateur boxer who competed from 1966 to 1986. Stevenson won the Val Barker Trophy (1972) as well was honored with the Olympic Order (1987) and is one of only three boxers to win three Olympic gold medals – alongside the Hungarian László Papp and the fellow Cuban Félix Savón.

2. José Nápoles (1940 - 2019)

With an HPI of 51.59, José Nápoles is the 2nd most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

José Ángel Nápoles (April 13, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was a Cuban-born Mexican professional boxer. He was a two-time undisputed welterweight champion, having held the WBA, WBC, and The Ring welterweight titles between 1969 and 1975. He is frequently ranked as one of the greatest fighters of all time in that division and is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. His record of the most wins in unified championship bouts in boxing history, shared with Muhammad Ali, was unbeaten for 40 years. After debuting professionally in Cuba, he fought out of Mexico and became a Mexican citizen.

3. Félix Savón (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 50.33, Félix Savón is the 3rd most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Félix Savón Fabre (born 22 September 1967) is a Cuban former amateur boxer who competed from 1980 to 2000. Considered one of the all-time greatest amateurs, he became three-time Olympic gold medalist, and the World Champion six times in a row, all in the heavyweight division. In 1988, when he was favored by many to win the gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics, the Cuban government boycotted the event. Savón is particularly known for having rejected numerous multimillion-dollar offers to defect and leave Cuba permanently to fight Mike Tyson as a professional.

4. Benny Paret (1937 - 1962)

With an HPI of 46.96, Benny Paret is the 4th most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Bernardo Paret (March 14, 1937 – April 3, 1962), known as Benny Paret or Benny "Kid" Paret, was a Cuban welterweight boxer who won the World Welterweight Championship twice in the early 1960s. Paret's death occurred 10 days after injuries sustained in a March 24, 1962, title defense against Emile Griffith, televised live and seen by millions on ABC's Fight of the Week. Paret had a lifetime record of 35 wins (10 knockouts), 12 losses and 3 draws. Paret won the welterweight title for the first time on May 27, 1960, by defeating Don Jordan. In his first defense of the title, Emile Griffith knocked him out in the thirteenth round on April 1, 1961. Paret recaptured the crown on September 30, 1961, in a split-decision over Griffith. Barely two months later, Paret took on middleweight champion Gene Fullmer and was knocked out in the tenth round, being behind on all three judges' scorecards. Although Paret had been battered in the two fights with Griffith and the fight with Fullmer, he decided that he would defend his title against Griffith three months after the Fullmer fight. Paret–Griffith III was booked for Madison Square Garden on Saturday, March 24, 1962, and was televised live by ABC. In round six, Paret nearly knocked out Griffith with a multi-punch combination, but Griffith was saved by the bell. In the twelfth round of the fight, Don Dunphy, who was calling the bout for ABC, remarked, "This is probably the tamest round of the entire fight." Seconds later, Griffith backed Paret into the corner before he unleashed a massive flurry of punches to the champion's head. It quickly became apparent that Paret was dazed by the initial shots and could not defend himself, but referee Ruby Goldstein allowed Griffith to continue his assault. Finally, after 29 consecutive punches, which knocked Paret through the ropes at one point, Goldstein stepped in and called a halt to the bout. Paret collapsed in the corner from the barrage of punches (initially thought to be from exhaustion), fell into a coma, and died ten days later at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan from massive brain hemorrhaging. Paret was buried at Miami’s Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery on April 7, 1962. The last fight between Paret and Griffith was the subject of many controversies. It is theorized that one of the reasons Paret died was that he was vulnerable due to the beatings he took in his previous three fights, all of which happened within twelve months of each other. New York State boxing authorities were criticized for giving Paret clearance to fight just several months after the Fullmer fight. The actions of Paret at the weigh-in before his final fight have come under scrutiny. It is alleged that Paret taunted Griffith by calling him maricón (Spanish slang for "faggot"). Griffith wanted to fight Paret on the spot but was restrained. Griffith would come out as bisexual in his later years, but in 1962 allegations of homosexuality were considered fatal to an athlete's career and a particularly grievous insult in the culture both fighters came from. The referee Ruby Goldstein, a respected veteran, came under criticism for not stopping the fight sooner. It has been argued that Goldstein hesitated because of Paret's reputation of feigning injury and Griffith's reputation as a poor finisher. Another theory is that Goldstein was afraid that Paret's supporters would riot. The incident, combined with the death of Davey Moore a year later for a different injury in the ring, would cause debate as to whether boxing should be considered a sport. Boxing would not be televised on a regular basis again until the 1970s. The fight also marked the end of Goldstein's long and respected career as a referee, as he was unable to find work after that. The fight was the centerpiece of a 2005 documentary entitled Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story. At the end of the documentary, Griffith, who had harbored guilt over the incident over the years, is introduced to Paret's son. The son embraced Griffith and told him he was forgiven. Paret's death was chronicled in a 1962 protest song by folk singer Gil Turner. The song, "Benny 'Kid' Paret", was published in Broadside magazine that same month and was recorded later in the year by Turner's group, The New World Singers, for the 1963 Folkways album Broadside Ballads, Vol. 1. A 1962 poem by Australian ex-boxer Merv Lilley urged us to remember Benny Paret "when they're lacing leather on." The emotive poem "Muerte en el Ring" ("Death in the Ring") by Afro-Peruvian poet Nicomedes Santa Cruz recounts Paret's life to the moment of his last breath. A semifictionalized story of the fight was told live by radio dramatist Joe Frank in the 1978 program "80 Yard Run" on WBAI in New York and replayed several times subsequently on NPR. In it, Frank cast Griffith rather than Paret as the defending champion and makes no mention of Paret's recent fights or his prior history with Griffith. In the dramatized version, Griffith dominates the fight from the beginning, with the fight ending in the middle rounds and Paret dying later that night. Paret is also one of many boxers named in the lyrics of Sun Kil Moon's 2003 album Ghosts of the Great Highway. The album builds several songs around the stories of boxers who died early deaths. The story of Emile Griffith and Paret's death has been turned into an Opera in Jazz, Champion. It premiered on the campus of Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri, on June 15, 2013. The opera was written by composer Terence Blanchard, with a libretto by playwright Michael Cristofer, who went on to develop the stage play "Man in the Ring" on the same subject. The play premiered at the Court Theatre in Chicago in 2016. Kim Duk-koo List of welterweight boxing champions Boxing record for Benny Paret from BoxRec (registration required) Benny Paret at Find a Grave https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1960 https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1961 https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1962

5. Orlando Martínez (1944 - 2021)

With an HPI of 46.04, Orlando Martínez is the 5th most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Orlando Martínez (September 2, 1944 – September 22, 2021) was a Cuban bantamweight boxer, who won the gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Three years later he captured the gold at the 1975 Pan American Games. Orlando was awarded a hotly disputed 3–2 split decision over Great Britain's George Turpin in the 1972 Munich Olympics semifinal before coasting to a comfortable points win over future professional world bantamweight champion Alfonso Zamora in the final to win the division's gold medal.

6. Roberto Balado (1969 - 1994)

With an HPI of 42.31, Roberto Balado is the 6th most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Roberto Balado Méndez (15 February 1969 – 2 July 1994) was a Cuban amateur boxer, who competed from 1986 to 1994. At the 1992 Summer Olympics he won a Gold medal in the men's super heavyweight (+91 kg). A natural heavyweight, he was Olympic champion (Barcelona 1992), three times world champion (Moscow 1989, Sydney 1991, and Tampere 1993), and five times Cuban national champion. He was also the winner of the Val Barker Trophy for Outstanding Boxer at the 1992 Olympic Games. Balado was at his prime, looking forward to win many forthcoming events, considered by some boxing experts to be the world's second-best fighter after Félix Savón (who competed one weight division below), and being one of the favourites of the 1995 Pan American Games and 1996 Olympics, but died in a car accident. At the time of his death, age 25, he had 250 fights, with a record of 238 victories, and 12 losses.

7. Emilio Correa (1953 - 2024)

With an HPI of 41.31, Emilio Correa is the 7th most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Emilio Correa Vaillant (21 March 1953 – 11 March 2024) was a Cuban amateur boxer who won welterweight gold at the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, West Germany. He is not to be confused with his middleweight namesake, who is actually his son. Inspired by his compatriots Roberto Caminero "Chocolatico" Pérez, Enrique Regüeiferos, Félix Betancourt, and Rolando Garbey who also hail from Santiago de Cuba, he started boxing in 1966. At the PanAm Games in Cali, Colombia (1971) he won gold against American Larry Carlisle, but it was not until he beat Betancourt at the national championships in 1972 that he was able to secure his ticket to the Olympics. There he knocked out the defending champion Manfred Wolke of East Germany in the round of sixteen and defeated the rest on points to win Cuba's first welterweight boxing gold. Correa died on 11 March 2024, at the age of 70.

8. José Gómez Mustelier (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 40.47, José Gómez Mustelier is the 8th most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

José Gómez Mustelier a.k.a. Jovani Gomez (born January 28, 1959, in Colombia, Cuba) is a retired Cuban boxer, who won the middleweight gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics. In the final he defeated Viktor Savchenko of the USSR on points (4–1). Two years earlier he captured the world title at the second World Championships in Belgrade, followed by the gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games.

9. Jorge Hernández (1954 - 2019)

With an HPI of 39.54, Jorge Hernández is the 9th most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Jorge Hernández (November 17, 1954 – December 12, 2019) born in Havana was a boxer from Cuba, who represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. There he won the gold medal in the light flyweight division (– 48 kg) by defeating North Korea's Li Byong-Uk in the final. Four years later, when Moscow hosted the Games, he was eliminated in the second round in the flyweight division (– 51 kg). Hernández won the world title at the inaugural 1974 World Championships in Havana, Cuba, followed by the silver medal four years later, when Belgrade hosted the World Championships. He also captured the gold at the 1975 Pan American Games.

10. Guillermo Rigondeaux (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 39.51, Guillermo Rigondeaux is the 10th most famous Cuban Boxer. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡiˈʎeɾmo riɣonˈdo oɾˈtiθ]; born 30 September 1980) is a Cuban professional boxer. He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the unified WBA (Super), WBO and Ring magazine super bantamweight titles between 2013 and 2017, and the WBA (Regular) bantamweight title from 2020 to 2021. He has also challenged once for the WBO junior lightweight title in 2017. Possessing one of the greatest amateur records of all time, Rigondeaux won consecutive gold medals in the bantamweight division at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. He is also a seven-time Cuban national champion at bantamweight (2000–2006), finishing his amateur career with a record of nearly 475 fights with 12 losses; the last of these losses occurring in 2003. After Rigondeaux's defection in 2009, he turned professional and remained undefeated for almost nine years. Rigondeaux has been lauded by boxing trainer Freddie Roach as being "probably the greatest talent I've ever seen." He is known for his exceptionally fast hand speed, punching power, counterpunching abilities, athleticism, reflexes, footwork and defensive elusiveness.

People

Pantheon has 34 people classified as Cuban boxers born between 1937 and 1997. Of these 34, 26 (76.47%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Cuban boxers include Félix Savón, José Gómez Mustelier, and Guillermo Rigondeaux. The most famous deceased Cuban boxers include Teófilo Stevenson, José Nápoles, and Benny Paret. As of April 2024, 13 new Cuban boxers have been added to Pantheon including Emilio Correa, Jorge Hernández, and Hipólito Ramos.