VILLEPINTE, France — Two-time Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Julio César La Cruz of Cuba lost his opening bout at the Paris Games on Sunday by split decision to Loren Alfonso of Azerbaijan.
La Cruz won the first round of the heavyweight bout but lost the last two rounds on three of the five judges’ scorecards to lose the 3-2 decision to Alfonso, a Cuban defector who won a bronze medal in Tokyo at light heavyweight. The fighters embraced afterward.
La Cruz was attempting to join Laszlo Papp of Hungary and fellow Cubans Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon as the only three-time gold medalists in Olympic boxing history, but his quest ended on its first day.
La Cruz’s current teammate, light heavyweight Arlen López, also has the opportunity to win his third consecutive Olympic gold medal.
La Cruz ventured into professional boxing after his victory in Tokyo, winning three bouts while staying with the Olympic version of the sport. He will turn 35 years old next month.
Cuba is a longtime powerhouse in Olympic boxing, ranking behind only the U.S. team in total medals and gold medals. But after winning four gold medals in Tokyo, Cuba qualified only five boxers for Paris, with two men missing qualification in the newly shrunken field with just seven men’s weight classes.
No women qualified for Cuba, which lifted its internal ban on the women’s sport in late 2022.