HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 6 (ACN) Camagüey’s Julio César La Cruz, 91 kilograms (kg), once again proved indecipherable on a boxing ring today and was crowned Olympic champion in Tokyo, defeating Russia’s Muslim Gadzhimagomedov, to give Cuba its sixth gold medal in these Games.
Rio 2016 Olympic 81 kg champion and four-time world gold medallist, La Cruz exhibited enviable speed, elusiveness, reflexes and physical preparation in the fight to win a unanimous decision from the judges.
With his guard down and an unconventional fighting style, the fighter lived up to his nickname of “The Shadow” to unobjectionably dominate Gadzhimagomedov, world champion in 2019 and who came with the endorsement of being the first in the ranking of the season.
The 31-year-old Camagüey native thus won the third gold medal in boxing for Cuba, with titles also won by Rosniel Iglesias and Arlen López, and has already surpassed the pre-competition predictions.
The discipline still has another opportunity to bring another gold medal, with Andy Cruz from Matanzas, who will fight this Sunday in the final of the 63 kilograms against the American Keyshawn Davis.
La Cruz left no doubts in his performances in the super heavyweight division held at the Kokugikan Arena, and proved his quality with victories over Kenyan Elly Ochola (5-0), Spaniard Enmanuel Reyes (4-1) and Brazilian Abner Teixeira (4-1).
Making his usual military salute to the group of Cubans present in the hall, the captain of the national team Domadores proclaimed: We deliver Cuba.
Officially, the Antillean nation has six gold, three silver and four bronze medals in Tokyo, placing it in 13th place in the medal table by nations.
With this victory, boxing, the “flagship” of Cuban sport, accumulates 40 of the 83 gold medals won by Cuba in the Olympic Games.
