Farewell, Teófilo Stevenson

RIP Teofilo, but Jimmy Clark arguably beat him once, Igor Vysotsky beat him twice, and Greg Page would've done the trick around mid-to-late 1978.This year is something else with deaths, though.

 

Amateur or not, he was a huge dude with height, reach, skill, timing, great strength and massive power, and he'd be live in there with anyone at any time. BUT, it was his choice not to defect and only fight as an amateur, so we'll never truly know what he would have done as a pro. What we do know is he was a fantastic amateur for over a decade and beat the very best amateurs the world had to offer.

 

A sad loss to boxing, where he was arguably the finest ever amateur boxer.

A man who marched to his own beat, in a state where that was almost impossible. And unlike many others who left, Stevenson stayed.

 

Tell that to Mark Breland.

 

Where is Breland's three Olympic Golds?

Where is Breland's World Championship, 14 years after his first Olympic Gold?

The only men that compare to Stevenson on the amateur scene IMO are Papp and Savon.

There were some exceptional other amateurs from the old 'First World'. Of which Breland was one. But these fighters tended to turn pro after winning their medal, unlike those fighting for the Communist states.

 

top three amateur heavyweight ever

 

So much for those great steroids in Cuba. That's indeed awfully young for somebody in the kind of physical condition he was in, dying at an age just eight years past what Holmes last competed at. Although heredity, whatever age his parents and grandparents have reached, would be telling, an arterial clot in a former world class athlete that young is a lot to swallow as a naturally occurring affliction.

 

Hopefully, someone didn't off the guy.

 

Tall, long armed and lean with a killer right hand. Sounds a little like a heavyweight Tommy Hearns.

 

RIP to one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history (amateur or pro).

 

I was a bit late on finding out this news.

RIP Teofilio


He died of a heart attack. It can happen, suddenly, even to men who seem quite fit. 60 isn't a particularly young age to be stricken by the fatal heart attack. And it has nothing to do with health care in Cuba, so no need for Americans to score their cheap politics points here (or don't they have heart attacks in the great USofA ?).

Definitely the greatest fighter to never go professional :good