Two-time Olympic gold medallist Julio Cesar La Cruz scored a 3-0 win over Uzbekistan’s Madiyar Saydrakhimov to win the IBA world heavyweight title at home in Havana before a packed house in an exciting IBA Champions Night card.
La Cruz dominated the 2021 world bronze medallist Ubekistani throughout the three rounds to put issues beyond doubt as he led other five Cuban boxers to a clean sweep in all the six bouts.
Two-time Olympic champion Arlen Lopez TKO’d Dominican Republic’s Luis Antonio Tejeda in one minute 21 seconds of the third round, with three-time world champion Lazaro Alvarez defeating Uzbekistan’s Mujibillo Tursonov 3-0 in the light-welterweight division.
Earlier, in another light-welterweight bout, Erislandy Alvarez, still in buoyant mood from his gold medal win in the Paris Olympics, outpointed Columbia’s Jose Munoz, and two-time Olympic champion Raniel Iglesias beat Armenia’s Gurgen Madoyan 2-1 at welterweight.
In the opening featherweight bout, world silver medallist Saidel Horta scored a 3-0 victory over Russia’s Ruslan Belouslov.
Credit: AFBC Communications
