Félix Savón
Encyclopedia
Félix Savón Fabre (born September 22, 1967 in San Vicente, Cuba
) is a Cuba
n heavyweight boxer
, a winner of three gold medals at the Olympic Games
. Savón is considered a legend in amateur boxing and has won six world titles.
, Savón began his boxing career in 1980. During his career, in which he did not turn professional, he managed a career record of 362-21.
He won his first important titles in 1985. At 19 he upset England
's Michael Bentt
on his way to win the 1987 Pan Am games
. Besides winning the Cuban heavyweight title (which he would win each year until his retirement, except 1999 and 2000 when he lost to Odlanier Solis
), he also won the Junior World Championships in 1985.
This set off his career, in which he would win 6 World Championships; his victory at the 1997 tournament was the result of the disqualification of an opponent, future professional world champion Ruslan Chagaev
, who beat Savón in the final, but was later stripped of the gold medal for having two professional fights prior to the championships. Chagaev was reinstated as an amateur the following year when these fights were declared exhibitions, but did not regain the gold medal.
In 1998 during the Heavyweight final of the Goodwill Games from New York, Savón had an amazing K.O. over U.S. Amateur Champion DaVarryl Williamson
. At the 1999 tournament, he was to fight American Michael Bennett
in the final, but the whole Cuban team retired from the competition to protest the result of another Cuban boxer in the tournament whom they considered had been "robbed" by the judges, meaning that Bennett won the final on default. In their bout at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Bennett would lose 23-8 to the Savón.
Savón also won three Olympic gold medals, which feat is shared with only two other boxers, László Papp
and compatriot Teófilo Stevenson
.
After winning his third Olympic gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics
in Sydney
, Savón announced his retirement at age 33.
In February of the following year with Fidel Castro
also present, Savón had the song "You Love Us
" dedicated to him by the Manic Street Preachers
, who became the first western
rock
band to play in Cuba.
1996
2000
1991
1995
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
) is a Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n heavyweight boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, a winner of three gold medals at the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
. Savón is considered a legend in amateur boxing and has won six world titles.
Early life and career
Born in San Vicente, in the Guantánamo ProvinceGuantánamo Province
Guantánamo is the easternmost province of Cuba. Its capital is also called Guantánamo. Other towns include Baracoa. The province surrounds the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay.-History:...
, Savón began his boxing career in 1980. During his career, in which he did not turn professional, he managed a career record of 362-21.
He won his first important titles in 1985. At 19 he upset England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
's Michael Bentt
Michael Bentt
Michael A. Bentt is a film and television actor and retired heavyweight boxer. Of Jamaican lineage, he was born in East Dulwich, London, but raised in the Cambria Heights section of Queens in New York City...
on his way to win the 1987 Pan Am games
Boxing at the 1987 Pan American Games
The Men's Boxing Tournament at the 1987 Pan American Games was held in the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, United States from August 8 to August 23.- Medal winners :-Medal table:-External links:*...
. Besides winning the Cuban heavyweight title (which he would win each year until his retirement, except 1999 and 2000 when he lost to Odlanier Solis
Odlanier Solis
Odlanier Solís Fonte is a Cuban professional boxer. He won the Olympic Gold medal in Athens 2004 and was a three time winner at the World Amateur Boxing Championships.-Amateur career:...
), he also won the Junior World Championships in 1985.
This set off his career, in which he would win 6 World Championships; his victory at the 1997 tournament was the result of the disqualification of an opponent, future professional world champion Ruslan Chagaev
Ruslan Chagaev
Ruslan Chagaev born October 19, 1978 in Andijan, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union) is an Uzbekistani former WBA heavyweight boxing champion of Tatar ethnicity...
, who beat Savón in the final, but was later stripped of the gold medal for having two professional fights prior to the championships. Chagaev was reinstated as an amateur the following year when these fights were declared exhibitions, but did not regain the gold medal.
In 1998 during the Heavyweight final of the Goodwill Games from New York, Savón had an amazing K.O. over U.S. Amateur Champion DaVarryl Williamson
DaVarryl Williamson
DaVarryl Williamson is an American boxer originally from Washington, D.C., but later a resident of Aurora, Colorado. His ring nickname is "Touch of Sleep". He has a current professional record of 26-6, 22KO...
. At the 1999 tournament, he was to fight American Michael Bennett
Michael Bennett (boxer)
Michael Bennett is a former US-American boxer who won the amateur world championships in 1999 and represented the United States at the 2000 Olympic Games in the heavyweight division .-Amateur career:...
in the final, but the whole Cuban team retired from the competition to protest the result of another Cuban boxer in the tournament whom they considered had been "robbed" by the judges, meaning that Bennett won the final on default. In their bout at the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
Bennett would lose 23-8 to the Savón.
Savón also won three Olympic gold medals, which feat is shared with only two other boxers, László Papp
László Papp
László Papp was a Hungarian boxer, born in Budapest. A southpaw, he won gold medals in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, and the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia...
and compatriot Teófilo Stevenson
Teófilo Stevenson
Teófilo Stevenson Lawrence or Teófilo Stevenson is a former Cuban amateur boxer. He is one of the only three boxers to win three Olympic gold medals, alongside Hungarian László Papp and fellow Cuban Félix Savón....
.
After winning his third Olympic gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Savón announced his retirement at age 33.
In February of the following year with Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
also present, Savón had the song "You Love Us
You Love Us
"You Love Us" is a single by the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on January 16, 1992 and was the third single to be released from their debut album, Generation Terrorists....
" dedicated to him by the Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
, who became the first western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band to play in Cuba.
Retirement
Savon announced his retirement from the ring, but will help train Cuba's fighters for the 2004 Athens Olympics.Olympic Games
1992- Defeated Krzysztof Rojek (Poland) RSC 2
- Defeated Bert Teuchert (Germany) 11-2
- Defeated Danell NicholsonDanell NicholsonDanell Nicholson was an American Olympian and a boxer in the heavyweight division.-Amateur career:Nicholson was a member of the 1992 United States Olympic Team as a Heavyweight...
(United States) 13-11 - Defeated Arnold VanderlydeArnold VanderlydeArnold Petrus Maria Vanderlyde is a former boxer from the Netherlands, who participated in three Summer Olympics and won three bronze medals in the heavyweight division , starting in 1984 in Los Angeles, California. He started boxing at age fifteen...
(Netherlands) 23-3 - Defeated David IzonriteiDavid IzonriteiDavid Izonritei is a former Nigerian boxer. Also known as David Izon, Izonritei won the Heavyweight silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.-Amateur career:...
(Nigeria) 14-1
1996
- Defeated Andrei Kurnyavka (Kyrgyzstan) 9-3
- Defeated Kwamena TurksonKwamena TurksonPapa Kwamena Andze Turkson is a retired male boxer from Sweden.Turkson competed for his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was stopped in the second round of the men's heavyweight division by Cuba's defending champion and later gold medalist Félix Savón after...
(Sweden) RSC 1 - Defeated Georgi KandelakiGeorgi KandelakiGeorgi Kandelaki is a former boxer and current boxing administrator...
(Georgia) 20-4 - Defeated Luan KrasniqiLuan KrasniqiLuan Krasniqi is a professional German boxer of Kosovo Albanian descent.On April, 2006, he was ranked #2 by the WBO, coming before other heavyweight contenders such as Lamon Brewster, Shannon Briggs, and Ruslan Chagaev....
(Germany) walkover - Defeated David DefiagbonDavid DefiagbonDavid Dejiro Defiagbon was a Nigerian boxer. Nicknamed "The Dream", Defiagbon fought for Canada and won the heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.-Amateur:...
(Canada) 20-2
2000
- Defeated Ojemaye Rasmus (Nigeria) 18-3
- Defeated Michael BennettMichael Bennett (boxer)Michael Bennett is a former US-American boxer who won the amateur world championships in 1999 and represented the United States at the 2000 Olympic Games in the heavyweight division .-Amateur career:...
(United States) 23-8 - Defeated Sebastian KöberSebastian KöberSebastian Köber is a German boxer, who won the Heavyweight bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia...
(Germany) 19-8 - Defeated Sultan IbragimovSultan IbragimovSultan-Ahmed Magomedsalihovich Ibragimov, is a retired professional boxer and a former WBO heavyweight champion. He is of Avar Dagestani Muslim descent...
(Russia) 21-13
Pan American Games
1987- Defeated Julio Sanchez (Puerto Rico) RSC 1
- Defeated Michael BenttMichael BenttMichael A. Bentt is a film and television actor and retired heavyweight boxer. Of Jamaican lineage, he was born in East Dulwich, London, but raised in the Cambria Heights section of Queens in New York City...
(United States) 5:0 - Defeated Juan Antonio Díaz (Argentina) KO 2
1991
- Defeated Tom GlesbyTom GlesbyThomas Glesby is a retired boxer, who represented Canada twice at the Summer Olympics: in 1988 and 1992. Nicknamed "The Bomb" he won the bronze medal in the men's heavyweight division at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.-References:*...
(Canada) AB 1 - Defeated Shannon BriggsShannon BriggsShannon "The Cannon" Briggs is an American heavyweight boxer and actor. He is the former Lineal and WBO heavyweight champion.-Early life:...
(United States) RSC 1
1995
- Defeated Angus Lewis (US Virgin Islands) KO 1
- Defeated Santiago PalavecinoSantiago PalavecinoSantiago Palavecino is a retired male boxer from Argentina, who won the bronze medal in the men's heavyweight category at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata. In the semi finals he lost to Cuba's eventual gold medalist Félix Savón...
(Argentina) RSCH 1 - Defeated Lamon BrewsterLamon Brewster"Relentless" Lamon Tajuan Brewster is a retired American professional heavyweight boxer, and former WBO heavyweight champion. He won the silver medal as an amateur at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata....
(United States) AB 2