Cuban boxing great Teofilo Stevenson dies

Havana - Cuban boxing legend Teofilo Stevenson Lawrence died here Monday of a heart attack, aged 60, the National Sports and recreation Institute (INDER) said.

Stevenson, who won all the titles of the International Association of Amateur Boxing (AIBA), is considered one of the greatest boxers of the heavy weights in the history of amateur boxing, Xinhua reports.

He won Olympic gold medals in three Games – Munich 1972, Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980, and world championship titles in 1974, 1978 and 1986.

Stevenson won 301 of the 321 fights in his 20-year career. In his entire trajectory, he faced several and experienced boxers, but his hardest rival was the Soviet Igor Visotski, who defeated him twice, without having the chance to have revenge.

In the 1980s, US Professional Boxing managers intended to organise a fight between Stevenson and Muhammad Ali, but the combat never occurred because Cuba insisted on holding it under the rules of amateur boxing.

Stevenson retired in 1988 and at the time of his passing away was serving as vice-president of the Cuban Federation of Amateur Boxing.