WOMEN DEMAND RIGHT TO BOX IN CUBA FIGHTLAND BLOG
WOMEN DEMAND RIGHT TO BOX IN CUBA
FIGHTLAND BLOG
Written by: Nick Wong
Feb 8 2017
Screenshot via YouTube/National Geographic
Anyone familiar with amateur boxing will know that Cuban boxers are of a special variety. The island has made claim to 38 gold medals in the sport, the most of any country in the world since boxing was first adopted into the Games in 1904. Names like Teófilo Stevenson and Félix Sávon (two of only three pugilists to capture 3 gold medals) have been products of the pugilistic program, along with some of the best technical fighters in the professional ranks today. The same has yet to be said about the country’s gendered counterpart as a government ban prohibits women from competing in the sport, but a small contingency of female fighters are looking to change that.
Earlier this week, Andrea Rodriguez and Ramon Espinoza of the Associated Press released an essay shedding light to the situation, and the piece has circulated throughout a number of media outlets. As most fans of the sport will know, women were first allowed to compete in the 2012 London Games and have produced spectacular athletes as a result. Why the most decorated boxing country in the world has yet to follow suit certainly warrants a closer look.
“I see myself at the Olympics in Japan 2020,” said Idamelys Moreno, one of a handful of women hoping for a change in government policy. “That’s my dream.”
Officially, the Cuban government reported a need for further medical studies to confirm the safety of boxing on women’s bodies, but quoted in the AP report is an unnamed former coach who explained the stance by saying, “Cuban women are meant to show the beauty of their face, not receive punches.”
More:
http://fightland.vice.com/blog/women-demand-right-to-box-in-cuba
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