Andres Aldama - 'The Cuban Assassin', the brilliant southpaw from Cuba, with an 'Havana Hammer' for a left hand. A 'true' one-punch knockout artist. At 6' 0", and with 'KO Power' in either fist, won many Amateur Championships, by simply blowing out the competition. This content is protected Was 20 years-old at the 1976 Summer Olympics, losing by 5-0 Decision to Ray Leonard for the Gold Medal at (63.5 Kg) Light-Welterweight (139 lbs.) If he could have turned professional, 'The Cuban Assassin' would have most definitely went on to win a Welterweight Championship, and quite possibly a Light-Middleweight Championship. A 'fantastic' fighter.
Scored one of the greatest one punch K.Os I have ever seen amateur or pro', at Montreal. Beat Mugabi in 1980 to take Gold. Would've made a quality pro' IMO.
Flea Man, When he hit you,,,,,,,you went to sleep. Actually, in 1975 and early-1976 - Andres Aldama was campaigning at (67 Kg) Welterweight Division. At 6' 0", his frame could handle the extra 7 lbs. at 19 years-old. He lost in 'semi-finals' at the (January 1976) 1976 Cuban National Tournament of the (67 Kg) division. The Cuban Boxing Team dropped him down 7 lbs., to the Light-Welterweight Divsion, and he impressed by winning the April 1976 Minsk Tournament in Moscow. In June 1976, he then won the Cuban '1976' Olympic Box-Offs, by defeating the #1 Cuban Light-Welterweight - Duque Stable 'twice' - and the #2 Cuban Light-Welterweight - Victor Corona 'twice'. Andres Aldama was so impressive, that he was the #1 Ranked (63.5 Kg) Light-Welterweight at the 1976 Summer Olympics, above #2 Ranked - Ray Leonard.
Correct Sir,,,,,The African Boxing Union (63.5 Kg) participants. Ayub Kalule (Uganada) Moro Tahiuru (Ghana) Karim Ibraham (Niger) Mark Harris (Guyana) Obisia Nwankpa (Nigeria)
He was the first tall southpaw slugger I remember. Those guys don't grow on trees and there were hardly any southpaws back then, let alone hitters. It would have been interesting to see the guy w/ backing and see how his contemporaries dealt with that. They sure couldn't get sparring for preparations. Those big lanky Zarate/Hearns body types in those lower weight classes sure had a way of leaving scrapheaps along the way, didn't they? They just refused to let opponents get comfy and adjust. I think this guy is another in that mold and we the fans sure missed out.
There were some, after the 1976 Summer Olympics - That tried to get Andres Aldama to defect to Canada, with hopes of getting him to turn Professional and get him some 'quick bouts' at Light-Welterweight, and go right after the 140 lb. Championship in early-1977. In early-1977, that would mean going after Wilfred Benitez, Antonio Cervantes and or Thailand's - Saensak Muangsurin. With Andres power and southpaw style, I would have given him a 'good chance' to get a quick 140 lb. Championship.
1976 Summer Olympics According to the Cuban Boxing Team, Andres Aladama had entered the 1976 Olympics with a record of 93-3 with (70 KO's). And his only losses were at (67 Kg) Welterweight. He was 'according to the Cubans' undefeated as a (63.5 Kg) Light-Welterweight.
I recall talks of him and Stevenson turning pro in that 76 timeframe and there was a lot of optimism by boxing fans. Want I cannot recall is a big or large promoter or premier management team involved with those talks. That would have become a necessity if not then, but within 2 or 3 years.
On,,,,,Andres Aldama At the 1976 Olympics......Age 20 years, 3 months In his '4-bouts' before entering the Finals versus Ray Leonard. Andres scored '4' knockouts in all his wins, while all of the other competitors in the Light-Welterweight Division 'combined' had scored only '4' knockout wins themselves. Here's his wins. * KO 2 (2:34).....over Sabahattan Burcu (Turkey) * KO 2 (1:34).....over Jesus Sanchez (Dominican Republic) * KO 2 (2:24).....over Jozsef Nagy (Hungary) * KO 1 (2:57).....over Vladimir Kolev (Bulgaria)
As I say, one of 'em, you can see it in the build-up to Leonard fight on YouTube (can't post as I'm on iPhone) is absolutely terrifying. Ray was knocking him around though. He'd have been an interesting addition to 154 but he'd have to tighten his game up, had little in the way of defence. Kalule KO1 Aldama.
Flea Man,,,,,,, I'll try to post that 1976 Olympic fight, where 'The Cuban Assassin' scores the 'one-punch' knockout.
Flea Man,,,,, The video of Andres Aldama scoring that (KO 1) 'one-punch' straight left hand knockout was over Bulgaria's Vladimer Kolev in the semi-finals of the Light-Welterweight Division. Vladimer Kolev was 'out' for 10-minutes, and had to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher. In the ABC-TV video, Howard Cosell incorrectly (as usual) called The Bulgarian - Vladimer Kolev, a Polish fighter. Andres who weighed right at the (63.5 Kg) limit, carried 139.7 lbs. into the ring. In the Finals, Ray Leonard weighed in at 137 lbs. My personal opinion, that was Ray Leonard's 'best ever' ring performance, when he Decisioned - Andres Aldama.
1976 Light-Welterweight Final. #1 Andres Aldama (Cuba) vs. #2 Ray Leonard (USA) Scorecards, which went by a 20-Must Point system, with '5' neutral officials scoring. Andres Aldama.......58...58...56...57...58 = 287 Ray Leonard..........59...59...60...60...60 = 298 'Two Judges' scored Round 1 for Andres Aldama, and 'One Judge' scored it 'Even'. Despite what was 'called' by Howard Cosell, the Referee did not stop the bout near the end of Round 3. Though Andres Aldama was 'out-on-his-feet', he made it to the 'final bell'.