CUBAN star Robeisy Ramirez is only 22 years old. He’s now a two-time, two-weight Olympic gold medallist. In a thrilling bantamweight final Ramirez made sure of victory against quality young American Shakur Stevenson, using speed and aggression in the first and third rounds to claim a split decision win.
“He was tough like any boxer who comes here. He’s very good, he’s young and he is a big hope of the future for the sport. It was a little hard to fight against him but no one here goes into their fights unprepared. I just kept trying to do my best so that the judges would see my work and think that I deserved the win. I’m glad I got the result we wanted which was the gold medal,” Ramirez said.
“I’m very excited about having this gold medal. I kept thinking about all the people that supported me to get here, my family, my wife, my friends and they supported me not only through the good moments but through the bad. Since London, as those who have been following my career know, I have been sanctioned by the Cuban federation due to disciplinary problems. So I had to take a year off and that gave me time to mature and to think a lot about what I wanted to do and that is boxing. I’m so happy to get this medal as during the last four years there have been not such good moments, not only personally but in the sport so this medal is not only mine but it’s also that of all the people that supported me to this stage.”
Cuba secured another gold medal on Saturday at Riocentro, Pavillion Six when middleweight Arlen Lopez tamed the aggressive, if wild, Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan. “He went out to execute his plan, and I went out to destroy this plan. That is what I did and I won the fight,” Lopez said casually. “There were a few moments where I was getting signs that made me feel like I had it in my hand. I was convinced I was winning and my excitement kept growing.
“I had to finish the last round at 100%. It’s the last round, you have to give it your all.”
He added, “We Cubans are prepared for anything. We only need to fight.”
