• Submitted by: lena campos
• Personalities
• 06 / 13 / 2012

---

Teofilo Stevenson was considered by many as the greatest amateur boxer in history

Former heavyweight boxing champion Teofilo Stevenson, one of Cuba's greatest sporting heroes, has been buried in the capital, Havana.

Friends, family and other sportsmen at the wake paid tribute to the boxer, who won three Olympic gold medals, and spoke of their shock at the news of his death at the age of 60.

State media said Stevenson had suffered a heart attack.

"Life has left me," said his widow, Fraymaris Arias Melendez.

"For those 20 years I was married to him, I did not want to be interviewed in this situation, ever."

In the 1970s, US boxing promoters offered Stevenson $5m (£3m) to turn professional and fight then world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.

But the boxer stayed loyal to the Cuban revolution, which outlawed professional sports, and refused. He said: "I prefer the affection of eight million Cubans."

Former leader Fidel Castro, president Raul Castro and Venezuela's left-wing President Hugo Chavez sent floral arrangements.
Olympic glory
Muhammad Ali and Teofilo Stevenson, Jan 1996, in Havana Stevenson, right, welcomed Muhammad Ali to Cuba in the 90s

Cuban boxer Felix Xavon, who also won gold medals in three Olympics, was at the funeral.

"Teofilo belonged to Cuba and to the world. Those who have not heard of Teofilo have not lived," he said.

Stevenson was born in Las Tunas province in eastern Cuba and fought his first bout at the age of 14.

He went on to win gold medals as a heavyweight in three consecutive Olympic Games - 1972 in Munich, 1976 in Montreal and 1980 in Moscow - and was widely considered the greatest amateur boxer of his time.

"The Olympic Games in Munich and Montreal are the fondest memories I have from my life, the best stage of my career," he told AP news agency earlier this year.

Boxing fans were keen to see him go up against Muhammad Ali in what they hoped would be the "fight of the century", but Stevenson turned the offer down.

The boxer - known in Cuba by the nickname "Pirolo" - missed a shot at a fourth Olympic gold when Cuba joined the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

He announced his retirement in 1988 after Cuba decided to skip the Seoul Olympics as well.

Source. BBC