Cuban boxing duo and a murky story

By CIRCLES ROBINSON*

AMATEUR boxing champs Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Lara had the rags to riches American dream in their hands. Yet after nearly two weeks of booze, prostitutes and big buck offers they opted out and asked to be repatriated to Cuba.

The case, which has made waves in Cuba and in the foreign press, raises interesting questions about the unscrupulous role of agents operating in the world of professional sports.

A written record

The eighth reflection on the Pan American Games

 Reflections of President Fidel Castro

MANY important events are taking place around the world. Some are related to Cuba. Sometimes the news that reaches our country is much more interesting than a simple reflection of mine aimed at creating awareness.

The BBC interview of Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, one of our Five Heroes, which was televised yesterday, had a profound impact on me; what human content, profundity and brilliance, qualities that could only come from a mind that has endured nine years of unjust psychological torture. We urge the Roundtable program to continue informing us about the historic process surrounding the fate of our historic compatriots.

Fidel Castro’s reflection on politics and sports

The seventh reflection on the Pan American Games

I AM WRITING this quickly and a little late. I should do this because of the strong emphasis I have placed in the analysis of this matter.

Besides, the news is not disheartening. The wire services announced that the two boxers who had defected in Rio de Janeiro had been found and arrested by the authorities on a beach close to that city. Remember that they had been given up for missing. They were there without any documents.

Selling soccer to slavery

Jumo Mendoza on the island of Gorée, just off the coast of Senegal in West Africa

For every 90k-a-week Didier Drogba, hundreds of West African hopefuls fail – sold down the river by unscrupulous traffickers preying on the lure of the English Premier League, reports JONATHAN GREEN of The Daily Mail

(August 3, 2007) – ANYONE who saw Jumo Mendoza play football on the dustbowl fields would tell you the same: the boy was a born champion. His talent was extravagant.