Félix Savón


Félix Savón Fabre is a retired Cuban amateur boxer, who competed from 1980 to 2000. Considered one of the all-time greatest amateur boxers, he became three-time Olympic gold medalist, and the World Champion six times in a row, all in the heavyweight division. In 1988, when he was favored by many to win the gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics, Cuban government boycotted the event. Savón is particularly known for having rejected numerous multimillion-dollar offers to defect, leave Cuba permanently to fight Mike Tyson as a professional.

Early years

Born in San Vicente, in the Guantánamo Province, ring debut for Savón occurred in 1980, in Guantánamo.
Savón's inspiration to become a boxer was his renowned countryman, three-time Olympic champion Teófilo Stevenson

Career

During his career, in which he did not turn professional, he managed a career record of 362–21, with the majority of his losses avenged. The only boxers, who got away with knockout victories over Savón unavenged were Soviet Usman Arsaliyev and North Korean Li Dal-Chen, whom he met only once.
He won his first important titles in 1985. At 19 he beat America's Michael Bentt on his way to win the 1987 Pan Am games. Besides winning the Cuban heavyweight title, he also won the Junior World Championships in 1985.
This set off his career, in which he would win six 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 knockout 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 Savón.
Savón won three Olympic gold medals, a feat shared with only two other boxers, László Papp and compatriot Teófilo Stevenson. He could have been a four-time Olympic gold medalist, had the Cuban government allowed its team to participate in the 1988 Seoul, South Korea.
Savón's critics said that he is a puncher instead of a boxer who is not satisfied with a decision, risking losses by going after knockouts even when he is far ahead on points. Roosevelt Sanders, a U.S. boxing coach, said Savon would have been immediately ranked between 5th and 10th in the world's professional boxing heavyweight division if he turned pro after the 1990 Goodwill Games. "Cuba, since 1974 has been the king of amateur boxing in the world," he said. "That is why the media of other countries keep asking why we don't box professionally. Professionalism will abolish humanism and society." Savon said amateur athletes are revered in Cuba. "Athletes are the most important thing in Cuba since Castro took over. We practice sports from the age of 8."

Highlights

Local match-up, Guantánamo, Cuba, 1980 :
XVI National Cadet Games, Cuba, July 1981:
National Youth Championships, Cuba, 1982:
National Friendship Games, Cuba, 1983:
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National Youth Championships, Cuba, 1983:
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International Youth Tournament, Berlin, East Germany, June 1984:
XV Central America and the Caribbean Championships, Managua, Nicaragua, 1984:
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XXIV Playa Girón National Championships, Nueva Gerona, Cuba, January 1985:
XXXVI Strandzha Cup, Sofia, Bulgaria, February 1985:
XIV Chemistry Cup, Halle, East Germany, March 1985:
Trofeo Italia, Mestre, Venice, Italy, March 1985:
XVIII Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, March 1985:
National Youth Championships, Cuba, 1985:
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XVI Central America and the Caribbean Championships, Maturín, Venezuela, September 1985:
III Junior World Championships, Bucharest, Romania, September 1985:
XXV Playa Girón National Championships, Havana, Cuba, January 1986:
XXXVII Strandzha Cup, Sofia, Bulgaria, February 1986:
XVII Chemistry Cup, Halle, East Germany, March 1986:
Ústí Grand Prix, Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia, March 1986:
XIX Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Camagüey, Cuba, May 1986:
IV World Championships, Reno, Nevada, May 1986:
XV Central American and Caribbean Games, Santiago, Dominican Republic, June–July 1986:
National Team Championships, Cuba, October 1986:
USA–Cuba Duals, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 1986:
USA–Cuba Duals, Sacramento, California, December 1986:
XXVI Playa Girón National Championships, Holguín, Cuba, January 1987:
XVIII Chemistry Cup, Halle, East Germany, March 1987:
Ústí Grand Prix, Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia, March 1987:
XX Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Santa Clara, Cuba, June 1987:
X Pan American Games, Indianapolis, Indiana, August 1987:
North American Championships, Toronto, Canada, August 1987:
V World Cup, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, October 1987:
Cuba–USA Duals, Santa Clara, Cuba, December 1987:
XXVII Playa Girón National Championships, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, January 1988:
Ústí Grand Prix, Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia, March 1988:
Gee-Bee Tournament, Helsinki, Finland, April 1988:
USA–Cuba Duals, Caesars Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, April 1988:
XXI Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Las Tunas, Cuba, June 1988:
Leningrad International Tournament, Leningrad, Soviet Union, June 1988:
TSC Tournament, Berlin, East Germany, July 1988:
XIX Central America and the Caribbean Championships, Guatemala City, Guatemala, October 1988:
XXVIII Playa Girón National Championships, Guantánamo, Cuba, January 1989:
AIBA International Challenge, Casablanca, Morocco, February 1989:
XXII Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Pinar del Río, Cuba, June 1989:
VII Military Spartakiad of the Friendly Armies of the Socialist Countries, Sliven, Bulgaria, June 1989:
V World Championships, Moscow, Soviet Union, September 1989:
Cuba–USA Duals, Havana, Cuba, 1989:
Battle of Carabobo International Tournament, Venezuela, 1989:
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XXIX Playa Girón National Championships, Cienfuegos, Cuba, January 1990:
AIBA International Challenge, West Berlin, West Germany, March 1990:
XXIII Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Manzanillo, Cuba, June 1990:
U.S. Olympic Cup, North America–Europe Duals, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 1990:
II Goodwill Games, Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington, July 1990:
VI World Cup, Dublin, Ireland, August 1990:
Cuba–USA Duals, Havana, Cuba, 1990:
XVI Central American and Caribbean Games, Mexico City, Mexico, December 1990:
XXX Playa Girón National Championships, Camagüey, Cuba, January 1991:
King's Cup, Bangkok, Thailand, February 1991:
XXIV Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, June 1991:
USA–Cuba Duals, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, August 1991:
XI Pan American Games, Havana, Cuba, August 1991:
VI World Championships, Sydney, Australia, November 1991:
XXXI Playa Girón National Championships, Pinar del Río, Cuba, January 1992:
BOXAM Cup, Barcelona, Spain, February 1992:
AIBA International Challenge, Tampa, Florida, April 1992:
XXV Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, May 1992:
XXV Summer Olympics, Barcelona, Spain, July 1992:
XXXII Playa Girón National Championships, Matanzas, Cuba, January 1993:
AIBA International Challenge, Istanbul, Turkey, February 1993:
Europe–North America Duals, Berlin, Germany, March 1993:
XXVI Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, May 1993:
VII World Championships, Tampere, Finland, June 1993:
USA–Cuba Duals, Biloxi, Mississippi, September 1993:
XVII Central American and Caribbean Games, Ponce, Puerto Rico, November 1993:
XXXIII Playa Girón National Championships, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, January 1994:
AIBA International Challenge, Dublin, Ireland, March 1994:
XXVII Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Cienfuegos, Cuba, May 1994:
VIII World Cup, Bangkok, Thailand, June 1994:
III Goodwill Games, Saint Petersburg, Russia, July–August 1994:
USA–Cuba Duals, Ledyard, Connecticut, October 1994:
XXXIV Playa Girón National Championships, Manzanillo, Cuba, January 1995:
XXVIII Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Matanzas, Cuba, February 1995:
XII Pan American Games, Mar del Plata, Argentina, March 1995:
World Championships, Berlin, Germany, May 1995:
National match-up, Havana, Cuba, July 1995:
XXI Central America and the Caribbean Championships, Mexico City, Mexico, September 1995:
AIBA International Challenge, Macon, Georgia, October 1995:
USA–Cuba Duals, Ledyard, Connecticut, November 1995:
XXXV Playa Girón National Championships, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, January 1996:
XLVII Strandzha Cup, Sofia, Bulgaria, February 1996:
Ústí Grand Prix, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic, February 1996:
XXVII Chemistry Cup, Halle, Germany, February–March 1996:
XXIX Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Camagüey, Cuba, April–May 1996:
XXII Central America and the Caribbean Championships, Guadalajara, Mexico, May 1996:
XXVI Summer Olympics, Atlanta, Georgia, July–August 1996:
Copenhagen Cup, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 1996:
XXXVI Playa Girón National Championships, Holguín, Cuba, February 1997:
XXX Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Pinar del Río, Cuba, June 1997:
National match-up, Havana, Cuba, August 1997:
Pan American Tournament, Medellín, Colombia, September 1997:
World Championships, Budapest, Hungary, October 1997:
XXXVI Playa Girón National Championships, Villa Clara, Cuba, January–February 1998:
Ahmet Cömert Memorial, Istanbul, Turkey, February 1998:
Beijing Open Tournament, Beijing, China, March 1998
XXXI Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Havana, Cuba, June 1998:
IX World Cup, Chongqing, China, June 1998:
IV Goodwill Games, New York City, July 1998:
XVIII Central American and Caribbean Games, Maracaibo, Venezuela, August 1998:
XXXVII Playa Girón National Championships, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, January 1999:
Strandzha Cup, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, February 1999:
Ústí Grand Prix, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic, March 1999:
National Tournament of Champions, Havana, Cuba, April 1999:
XXXII Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Villa Clara, Cuba, June 1999:
X World Championships, Houston, Texas, August 1999:
XXXVIII Playa Girón National Championships, Guantánamo, Cuba, January 2000:
Ústí Grand Prix, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic, March 2000:
Ukraine–Cuba Duals, Kiev, Ukraine, March 2000:
National Olympic Trials, Havana, Cuba, June 2000:
XXXIII Giraldo Córdova Cardín Tournament, Las Tunas, Cuba, July 2000:
XXVII Summer Olympics, Sydney, Australia, September 2000:
Savón announced his retirement from the ring, but helped train Cuba's fighters for the 2004 Athens Olympics.
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.
In 2018, Savón was arrested amid accusations that he had raped an underage boy.