Julio César De La Cruz Peraza (born 11 August 1989)
is a Cuban
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
. As an
amateur he won gold medals at the
2016 and
2020 Summer Olympics, and the
2011,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
,
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
,
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
and
2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships
The 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Belgrade, Serbia from 25 October to 6 November. Belgrade was picked to host the championships for the second time; the original 2021 contract with New Delhi was cancelled due to a disagreeme ...
.
Amateur career
At the
2011 World Championships, he captained the Cuban national team,
where he beat number 1 seeded
Egor Mekhontsev
Egor Leonidovich Mekhontsev (Егор Леонидович Мехонцев, transliteration ''Egor Leonidovich Mechoncev''; born 14 November 1984), is a Russian professional boxer, who among other achievements, won gold at 2012 London Olympics ...
from Russia on points (21–15) in semi-final, and defeated
Adilbek Niyazymbetov
Adilbek Sabituly Niyazymbetov ( kz, Әділбек Сәбитұлы Ниязымбетов; born 19 May 1989) is an Uzbekistani-born amateur light-heavyweight boxer who competes for Kazakhstan. He won silver medals at the world championships in ...
from Kazakhstan after 3 rounds by 17–13 finishing score in final, being the 4th World amateur boxing champion boxer from
Camagüey
Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province.
It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by S ...
.
He grasped the gold medal at
2011 Pan American Games
The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...
in which Cuba national team topped the medal table with 8 golds and 1 silver.
He beat
Carlos Gongora
Carlos may refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Carlos, Alberta, a locality
;United States
* Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County
* Carlos, Minnesota, a small city
* Carlos, West Virginia
;Elsewhe ...
of Ecuador in the semi-finals and
Yamaguchi Falcão Florentino of Brazil in the final on points (22–12).
At the
2012 Summer Olympics, he was upset by Falcão Florentino in the quarterfinals in a rematch from the 2011 Pan American Games. At the
2013 World Championships in Almaty, he beat
Serge Michel, Oleksandr Ganzulia,
Abdelhafid Benchabla
Abdelhafid Benchabla ( ar, عبد الحفيظ بن شبلة; born 26 September 1986, in Zemmouri) is an Algerian amateur boxer. He represented Algeria at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, and the 2012 Summer Olympics and is the curren ...
and
Joe Ward, before again beating Niyazymbetov in the final. On 4 January 2014, Julio Cesar la Cruz was hospitalized after being shot outside of a recreation center in his hometown of Camagüey.
In 2015, he again won the gold at the
AIBA World Boxing Championships
The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships (previously known as AIBA), are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport governing body. Al ...
held in
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...
.
He won the gold medal at the
men's light heavyweight event at the
2016 Summer Olympics.
La Cruz sports a 21–3 record in the
World Series of Boxing
250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards.
The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
. In the
2020 Summer Olympics, he gained attention for expressing his support for the Cuban government by declaring after his quarterfinal win over a Cuban-born Spanish opponent, "
Patria y vida, no. ¡
Patria o muerte, venceremos
Patria o Muerte, Venceremos is an official national motto of Cuba, adopted in 1960.
The origin of the motto was derived from a speech by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro to commemorate the workers and soldiers who died in the La Coubre explosion ...
!". After returning to Cuba, La Cruz received a fish and two bottles of soft drink as rewards for his competition in the Olympics. In 2021, he again won the gold at the
men's heavyweight held in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
*
*
archive
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Cruz, Julio Cesar
1989 births
Living people
Boxers at the 2011 Pan American Games
Boxers at the 2015 Pan American Games
Boxers at the 2019 Pan American Games
Light-heavyweight boxers
Heavyweight boxers
Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba
Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic boxers of Cuba
Cuban male boxers
Sportspeople from Camagüey
AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists
Olympic gold medalists for Cuba
Olympic medalists in boxing
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games medalists in boxing
Shooting survivors
Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba
Competitors at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games
Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games
Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in boxing
Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games
Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
21st-century Cuban people