By Thom Loverro. The
Washington Times. September 27, 2000
SYDNEY, Australia. — Cuban heavyweight great Felix Savon had a
bone stuck in his throat since July 1999, when he had to watch as Michael
Bennett was handed over the world championship while the Cuban team walked out
of the tournament in protest over the judging. Top Stories
Yesterday, Savon cleared his throat.
The 6-foot-6 Savon left no doubt yesterday who would have walked away
the winner on that hot summer day in Houston. It was billed as the biggest fight
in the Olympic tournament, but that appeared to be only wishful thinking.
It wasn't even close, stopped ultimately because of the slaughter rule —
when a fighter is 15 points ahead in the scoring, the bout is automatically
halted. With three seconds left in the third round, Savon went ahead 23-8, but
was ahead the minute he walked into the ring, with his customary style of just
stepping over the top rope.
If you tested Felix Savon for arrogance, his positive reading would be
right off the charts.
He is Cuban royalty, a six-time amateur world champion, and perhaps the
last true king of the Castro communist sports machine. Castro viewed the boxing
ring as a field of battle against the free world and built up a boxing program
starting in the 1960s that would come to dominate the sport.
Despite the crumbling of the island, that hasn't changed much, based on
how they have performed here in Sydney. But the government is hanging on by its
fingernails to try to keep its prize athletes in the country.
That was evident in the arena yesterday. The entire Cuban team sat in
the stands to watch Savon, and had used crime scene tape to block off a seating
area, leaving several rows of seats empty all around it, to keep everyone away
from its athletes. It was a lost cause, as witnessed by the way security tore
down the tape right in front of the eyes of the team.
But unlike the others — the many baseball players and boxers who
have fled the country for the promise of big bucks in America —Savon has
remained steadfastly loyal to Cuba.
In an interview published in the communist newspaper in Cuba last
month, Savon made it clear where his loyalties stand. "The nation where I
was born gives me happiness," Savon said. "When you abandon that, then
you are never really happy in life."
Who knows if those are truly Savon's words. He refused to meet with
reporters after defeating Bennett yesterday. But he has been offered millions of
dollars to defect and turn professional. Perhaps he took a long look at boxing
promoters Bob Arum and Don King, and figured he was better off with the devil he
knew.
Bennett, 29, who spent seven years in a Chicago prison for armed
robbery and didn't have his first amateur fight until he was released in 1999,
admired Savon's loyalty. "It's just about patriotism to his country and
he's just going to be a warrior for Cuba," Bennett said. "Some people
do take it upon themselves to defect, but he has stayed fast and stayed true to
the country and that's OK."
It was clear from the time Savon walked into the ring that he had been
waiting for this fight for a long time. He had heard all the stories about how
Bennett, who with less than 50 amateur fights, had the power and determination
to give Savon a tough fight — perhaps even stop this man who had hundreds
of amateur fights and had won gold medals in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in
1996.
Savon, 33, seemed to take it as an insult, and used his superior reach
and boxing skills to pick Bennett apart. The smaller (6-foot-1) American
heavyweight tried to get inside and create more of a brawl, and appeared to
shake Savon with a right hand in the third round. But this is not professional
boxing, where a fighter can lose the fight but win the war with one punch.
Scoring, and doing it quickly in four two-minute rounds in Sydney, is the name
of the game, and it is Savon's game.
Bennett wasn't intimidated, as many others have been when facing Savon,
who packs a devastating right hand. "A lot of others with more experience
would have backed down," said American boxing coach Tom Mustin. "Michael
did the best that he could."
Savon's legacy won't be complete until he wins the gold here in Sydney.
He next fights tomorrow against Sebestian Kober of Germany.
Another gold medal would put Savon on equal footing with the great
Cuban heavyweight who preceded him, Teofilo Stevenson, the only other
heavyweight to win three gold medals (Lazlo Papp of Hungary won gold medals in
1948, 1952 and 1956, at 156 and 165 pounds). Savon could have been going for
four gold medals, but Cuba boycotted the 1988 Games in Seoul.
Of course, Savon could have defected and gone pro, too. He didn't.
"He is a warrior," Bennett said, describing Savon.
He also may be a relic of a way of life that will someday no longer
exist, despite all the tape they might put around the island. This is the last
stand of the warrior.
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