Ángel Espinosa Capó (2 October 1966 – 12 April 2017) was a Cuban

amateur boxer Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

who dominated the 1980s at junior middleweight and middleweight and captured the

1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships The Men's 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Reno, United States from May 8 to 18. The fourth edition of this competition, held two years before the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, was organised by the world governing b ...

. He never won an Olympic medal due to Cuba's boycott of the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

(as well as the 1985

Boxing World Cup The Boxing World Cup was an international boxing event organized by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), featuring boxers competing in different weight divisions. It was held from 1979 to 1998 as an individual competition and from 2002 to ...

boycott.) A hard-hitting Cuban with a southpaw stance one of the most feared in his era was known to have about 300 amateur fights.

Career

In 1983 the hard-hitting southpaw won the junior world championships at junior welterweight by knocking out

Meldrick Taylor Meldrick Taylor (born October 19, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2002. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBF junior welterweight title from 1988 to 1990, and the WBA welterweight title ...

in round 2. Cuba boycotted the 1984 Olympic Games. He became 1986 world champion at junior middleweight. Espinosa then added the Panamerican title 1987 at middleweight. On two occasions when Cuban government boycotted the Boxing World Cup in 1985, and the Summer Olympics in 1988, gold winner in the middleweight class was East German

Henry Maske Henry Maske (, ; born 6 January 1964) is a German former professional boxer and one of Germany's most popular sports figures. He held the IBF light heavyweight title from 1993 until 1996. Amateur career Maske was born in Treu ...

, whom Espinosa defeated three times unanimously in 1987–88. At the 1989 world championships he defeated

Sven Ottke Sven Ottke (born 3 June 1967) is a German former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2004. He was a unified super-middleweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 1998 to 2004, and the WBA (Unified) title from 2003 to 2004. ...

but lost to local hero

Andrey Kurnyavka Andrey Petrovich Kurnyavka (russian: Андрей Петрович Курнявка, born 4 May 1968) is a retired Soviet and Kyrgyzstani boxer. He won the world middleweight title in 1989, and finished second in 1991, but was not included to th ...

. At Espinosa's first Olympics in

Barcelona 1992 The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

he competed at light-heavy and lost to Wojciech Bartnik . Angel trained amateurs in a boxing gym in Hialeah, Fl named "Hialeah School of Boxing" before his passing. Angel was found dead at a gym in Miami. Cause of death is still undetermined.

References

Record
2009-10-25) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Espinosa, Angel 1966 births 2017 deaths Middleweight boxers Southpaw boxers Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Boxers at the 1987 Pan American Games Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Cuba Cuban male boxers Defecting sportspeople of Cuba AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Pan American Games medalists in boxing Competitors at the 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games