Teófilo Stevenson biography
Teófilo Stevenson, (born March 29, 1952, Las Tunas, Oriente, Cuba—died June 11, 2012, Havana), Cuban heavyweight boxer who grew to become the primary fighter to win three Olympic gold medals in a single weight class and considered one of solely two to win three World Amateur Boxing titles.
The 6-ft 3-in (1.9-m) Stevenson shocked the boxing world within the quarterfinals of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich by defeating the extremely touted American Duane Bobick, who had crushed Stevenson the earlier 12 months within the Pan American Games. Stevenson received the gold medal by default when Ion Alexe of Romania was unable to battle within the ultimate due to a damaged thumb. At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Stevenson crushed his first three opponents in a report 7 min 22 sec, then knocked out Mircea Simon of Romania within the ultimate. István Levai of Hungary used an evasive technique within the semifinals of the 1980 Games in Moscow to turn out to be the primary Olympic boxer to go the gap with Stevenson, however Stevenson prevailed and went on to win his third gold medal.
Stevenson received three world newbie titles (as a heavyweight in 1974 and 1978 and as a super-heavyweight in 1986), a mark matched solely by fellow Cubans Adolfo Horta and Félix Savón (who received six newbie titles). Stevenson’s devastating left jab and highly effective proper would have been a severe problem to the main skilled fighters of his day, and promoters actively sought to induce him to show skilled. However, in step with the doctrines of Cuba’s communist regime, he was staunchly against the skilled circuit, which he believed exploited fighters, and he remained an newbie till his retirement in 1987.