Cuba’s Boxing Federation gives the green light to women’s boxing, allowing female boxers to compete for the first time in six decades.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/27J6C7UJUZJGDH2A3WG4LHQLVU.jpg?w=800&ssl=1 "Boxer Idamelys Moreno fights with Giselle Garcia during a training session in Havana, Cuba, December 5, 2022. | Image Credit: © Boxer Idamelys Moreno fights with Giselle Garcia during a training session in Havana, Cuba, December 5, 2022. | Images are usually protected by copyright")
Sports officials said on Monday (5th) that for the first time since Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959, the boxing nation of Cuba has given the green light to women who want to compete.
The Caribbean island, long known for its world-class men’s boxers, has won 41 Olympic gold medals. This puts the small country in second place in the world rankings for the Olympic Games
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/A7N6EW2UPJPFZNFQZ4MVQFFGVM.jpg?w=800&ssl=1 "Boxer Giselle Garcia, 22, uses her mobile phone at a sports hall in Havana, Cuba, December 5, 2022. | Image Source: © Boxer Giselle Garcia, 22, uses her mobile phone at a sports hall in Havana, Cuba, December 5, 2022. | Images are usually protected by copyright")
“Women’s boxing in Cuba… will put us on the international medal table,” Ariel Saínz, vice president of the Cuban Institute of Sport (INDER), said at a news conference after announcing the government’s decision to ban women’s participation in this one to legalize sports.
Sainz said the recently passed Cuban Family Code, a body of legislation designed to eliminate discrimination against women and the LGBT community in Cuba’s “machista” culture, provides the legal basis for the move.
“We now have a law that ensures equality between men and women,” said Sainz.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in 2009 that women could compete in boxing at the Olympic Games. Three years later, the first female boxers competed at the London 2012 Games and later at Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Cuba was previously one of the few countries not to practice women’s boxing among the 202 nations affiliated with the International Boxing Federation (IBA).
“We lost time, but we will make up for it,” said Alberto Puig, President of the Cuban Boxing Federation.
Authorities on Monday did not explain why women were banned from boxing in Cuba. Women are allowed to compete in wrestling, weightlifting, karate, taekwondo, and judo on the island.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/CGL6323RH5LZJPLDHC6YCW4GII.jpg?w=800&ssl=1 "Boxer Giselle Garcia, 22, fights during a training session in Havana, Cuba, December 5, 2022. | Image Credit: © Boxer Giselle Garcia, 22, fights during a training session in Havana, Cuba, December 5, 2022. | Images are usually protected by copyright")
Boxing’s uptake quickly made waves in the gyms of the Cuban capital, Havana, where women have been training for years but are forced to leave the island to compete.
“After years of sacrifice and effort, boxing’s flame began to flicker for me,” said Legnis Cala, a 125-pound left-hander who, after the news, donned her gloves and began punching a punching bag at the gym.
“A dream has come true for me.
