Ask anyone who knows the sport well and they will probably tell you that the 1970s were the best decade in boxing history.

The fight of the century between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali marked the beginning of this golden era in 1971 – a year after Ali was reinstated in combat sports following his military ban to fight the Vietnam War.

Ali also played a central role in the other two decisive fights of the decade: the victory against George Foreman at the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle and the 1975 Thrilla in Manila, where he defeated his great rival Joe Frazier.

Just two months before the Rumble in the Jungle, funded with millions and hosted by the dictatorship in Zaire, a more modest competition was born.

The 1974 Men’s Amateur World Boxing Championships took place over two weeks from August 17 to 30 at the Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva in Havana, the capital of the boxing metropolis of Cuba.

Somewhat surprisingly, there had never been a world championship in boxing – the Olympic Games had previously been the only international meeting of boxers – and athletes could otherwise only compete against each other at continental level.

Hosting it in Havana felt like the exact opposite of the grandiose Rumble in the Jungle. Cuba banned its athletes from turning professional until 2022. This ban reflects the country’s success at the World Boxing Championships, and the island nation took home the most gold medals at the first edition.

Five world champions from the host country were crowned, including Teófilo Stevenson, considered one of the country’s greatest athletes. Stevenson was a three-time Olympic and world champion by the end of his career, which is all the more impressive considering that Cuba boycotted the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games for political reasons, preventing the heavyweight from adding to his trophy collection.

Considering it was the first edition, an impressive 45 nations took part, bringing 274 competitors. Seventeen countries won medals – more than a third of Cuba’s medals.

Stevenson’s golden compatriots included the 1976 Montreal Olympic champion and 1978 World Championship silver medalist Jorge Hernandez and the reigning Olympic champion from the 1972 Munich Games, Emilio Correa. But the ten podium places were also occupied by future stars.

Let’s start with Wilfredo Gomez of Puerto Rico, who became the youngest boxer at the 1972 Olympics at the age of 15 and now had international hopes at the age of 17. He defeated Cuban Luis Jorge Romero in the bantamweight final before embarking on a professional career in which he won 32 consecutive fights by knockout and held the WBC super bantamweight title for over five years.

Among the winners were 1976 US Olympic champion Howard Davis and Soviet champion Rufat Riskiyev, who later won the silver medal in Montreal.

“Gentleman” Ayub Kalule was one of the most successful of those early gold medalists. The Ugandan defeated Vladimir Kolev of Bulgaria in the light welterweight final after beating Ulrich Beyer of East Germany in the semi-finals. This came months after winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, and just two years after his heroics in Havana, Kalule turned professional and settled in Copenhagen, Denmark. What followed was a five-year, 36-fight winning streak. He won the WBA and The Ring junior middleweight titles by inflicting his only career loss on Japan’s Masashi Kudo, who decided to retire after his winning streak ended. If Kalule’s winning streak was to end, it had to be at the hands of a great – and it did. Sugar Ray Leonard, who had notably defeated Beyer on his way to the gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, stopped Kalule with a knockout in the ninth round and became one of the greatest boxers of his generation.

Leonard was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team along with Leon Spinks, who, unlike Sugar Ray, competed at the 1974 World Championships and captured the light heavyweight bronze medal won by the 1972 Munich champion, Mate Parlov of Yugoslavia. Parlov had a successful professional career as WBC light heavyweight champion, while Spinks, who succeeded Parlov as Olympic champion, had mixed success. Although he finished his professional career with a less prestigious record of 26-17-3, he infamously holds a victory over Muhammad Ali. He became world heavyweight champion in just his eighth professional fight, the shortest rise to the top in history.

While the Americans had a lasting legacy associated with the first world championships in the professional field, it was only fitting that Cuba, a nation that rejected the idea of ​​professional sports, not only hosted the first world championships in men’s amateur boxing, but also put on a dominating performance there – setting a precedent for the next 50 years of Cuban excellence in men’s boxing.

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Media contact:

Elena Sobol, Head of Communications and Public Relations, International Boxing Association: [email protected]