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• 02 / 17 / 2010

The return to the ring of Emilio Correa, son of Olympic sub champion in Beijing 2008 is good news for Cuban boxing that wants to recover world leadership in the sport.

Correa, (75 kilograms) will reappear Sunday after several months of rest from competition due to two lesions that prevented him from taking part in the Milan-2009 World Championship.

Universal bronze medal boxer in the China Mianyang-2005 is a great attraction of the program in July 26 in El Cotorro municipality of the capital where he will confront his team mate Eliansy Mesa.

The Olympic sub champion of the Chinese meet had his last official competition in July 26 of 2009 when he won the Pan American Games in Mexico City but had to retire from active sport due to a lumbar disturbance he suffered during preparation in Ecuador.

He also needed surgery in his right hand after losing against British James Degale by a 14 to 16 count for the Olympic Gold in Beijing. This treatment removed him from the ring for eight months.

Despite separation from the ring for a long time Correa is still second in world ranking of middle weights according to a list prepared by the International Amateur Boxing Association.

Son of Emilio Correa, Olympic champion of welter weights in Munich-1972, the capital star 24 year old athlete is one of Cuba's hopes for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Sports fans on the island are confident of the talent of Correa and other young men to regain supremacy in the British capital after a series of discrete results and frequent changes of trainers.

However, in the first international commitment of the team this year, the 54 Itsvan Bocskai in Memoriam held in Debrecen, Hungary, in which only Olandi Regalado (51 kg) won the title for the intermediate flyweight. During the combat Regalado equaled in blows with Hungarian Norbert Kalucza but benefited by general votes of the judges.

Four silver medals were won by lightweight Livan Herrera (57 kg), the super complete Robert Alfonso (91+), semicomplete Jose Larduet (81 kg) and light welter Roniel Iglesias (64 kg) and two bronze medals won by bantam weight Marcos Forestal (54) and light flyweight Daniel Matelion (48).

Herrera lost 2-14 against Russian Sergey Vodopyanov, former world champion. Alfonso 0-2 against Israeli Yousef Abdelghan, Larduet (81) 10-13 against Russian Nikita Ivanov and Iglesias, current title world champion 1-2 against French Samir Machrouh.

The defeats of Iglesias and Larduet against minor rivals and early eliminations of middleweight Rey Eduardo Recio (74), welter Carlos Banter (69) and lightweight Yasniel Toledo (60) was a matter of concern. The other Cuban defeat was heavyweight Osmay Acosta (91) sub Olympic champion in Beijing-2008 who fell in his first fight against Russian Egor Mekhontsev, world champion in Milan-2009.

Fights away from home under the new Cuban technical director Rolando Acebal ended with 13 wins and 10 defeats and a lesser performance to achievements obtained in the Hungarian meet when the team obtained five gold medals and one bronze.

Source: PL