Cuban boxer Teófilo Stevenson died of a heart attack on Monday (June 11^th) of last week. He was 60 years of age. Stevenson won the heavyweight boxing gold medals at the 1972 (Munich), 1976 (Montreal) and 1980 (Moscow) Olympic games. He could, and probably would, have won a fourth gold medal in 1984 (Los Angeles), but for a political boycott of those games by the communist bloc countries. Despite losing out on a fourth gold, there can be little doubt that he was the best Olympic boxer of all time.

Teófilo Stevenson was an amateur boxer; amateur in so far as he did not fight for money. In every other respect he was as important a heavyweight boxer in the heavyweight golden era of the 1970s as Mohammed Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton and several others. One of the great unanswered questions of that era is how would the Cuban have fared if he had been matched against the great pro fighters of his time?

It is difficult to establish where he was born. Reports differ. It could have been Jamaica, it probably was Las Tunas, Cuba, but it may have been Puerto Padre, Cuba. He became interested in boxing in his teenage years when he joined the gym where his father, a dockworker, used to train and spar. It wasn’t long before the growing Teófilo became a Cuban junior boxing champion. Very soon after that he graduated to the senior ranks. He was 6-5 (1.95m) tall and his fighting weight was 220lbs (100kg)

One blot on his early international career was a loss to the American, Duane Bobick in the 1971 Pan American Games. Bobick went on to prove he was no slouch and qualified for the 1972 Olympics by defeating future professional heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, at the USA trials.

The pair met again in the quarterfinal of the 1972 Olympic Games. Bobick clearly won the second round and was looking good. In the third round Bobick dropped his guard while attempting to land a jab. That was all the 20-years old the Cuban needed. Stevenson won by a third round knockout.

Stevenson scored another knockout victory in the semi-final and received a walkover in the final after his Romanian opponent Ion Alexe, broke a thumb in the other semi-final. It was a slightly unsatisfactory way for Teófilo Stevenson to win his first Olympic title, but many experts felt it was a lucky escape for the Romanian.

The inaugural World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Havana, Cuba 1974. If there had been doubts about Stevenson’s ability before the Munich Olympics in 1972, they had been well and truly banished at the World Championships in 1974. The Cuban saw off all challengers and became the first World Amateur Heavyweight Boxing Champion by defeating Marvin Stinson of the USA in the final.

His next target was the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Teófilo Stevenson was now so fierce that many opponents chose to avoid him by moving around the ring. This did not prove to be a clever tactic. Stevenson was just as effective on the move as he was standing toe to toe, or up against the ropes. Having hunted down and defeated his early rounds opponents, he met America’s John Tait in the semi-final. John Tait was a very good boxer and he would go on to hold the WBO version of the World Heavyweight title. He was also in the US Navy and probably under an amount of pressure from his “employers” to take the fight to the Cuban.

Tait went for Stevenson from the first bell. He did well in the opening exchanges. Then he tried to jab the Cuban. As he did this he dropped his guard ever so slightly and exposed the left side of his face. Stevenson’s right hand came down on Tait like a judge’s gavel. Bang! To Tait’s eternal credit he did not go down immediately. Instead he staggered across the ring, laid one had on the rope and, seven seconds after the blow had landed, he fell in a heap against the corner post…eight…nine…ten…out.

This fight can be viewed on YouTube, (http://youtu.be/nW7MkLz6vxs) former world heavyweight professional champion George Foreman, did part of the commentary. After the fight Foreman was asked if he thought that Teófilo Stevenson could win the professional world title. Foreman answered, “I haven’t seen as much class and skill in amateur or professional boxing… (He) would undoubtedly become World Champion because he has the skill and qualifications.”

After Montreal, Stevenson was offered sums of up to $5m to turn professional and fight the then World Champion, Mohammed Ali. He refused, saying, “In the professional game there are other interests, financial interests, material interests…what is a million dollars,” he added, “against eight million Cubans who love me?”

He collected a second World Amateur title in 1978 and then began to prepare for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. These games were also marred by boycotts. This time it was the United States who railed against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. Even if the Americans had turned up it is unlikely that they could have produced anyone to stop Stevenson who was now at the height of his powers. He won the title pulling up; defeating Zaev from Russia in the final.

Cuba’s decision to boycott of the 1984 Olympics probably cost Stevenson a record breaking fourth gold medal. But fourth medal was hardly an endorsement that his glowing career needed. For his part Stevenson was in favour of the boycott, “It was a question of solidarity, I was in agreement” he said in an interview after he retired.

That retirement came in 1987. His final record was 302 victories in 322 fights. He went to work for Cuba’s Boxing Federation and Ministry of Sport. He always remained loyal to his country and its ideals.

It is a pity that Teófilo Stevenson had not been given the recognition that he so richly deserves. I believe there are two reasons for this.

By not turning professional at the height of his career he spurned a personal fortune, but he also took away a huge revenue generating opportunity for many other people in boxing. “For professional boxers, the money is a trap” he once said. “You make a lot of money, but how many boxers in history do we know that died poor? The money always goes into other people’s hands.” In saying this he implied his distrust for people who run boxing, and he has never been forgiven for it.

Secondly, by staying loyal to Cuba and its communist ideals, Stevenson snubbed the USA. Uncle Sam does not forgive such insolence. Cuba has survived a USA led economic embargo for 50 years. The success of Teófilo Stevenson in boxing is an example of Cuban defiance of this embargo.

The Olympic Games of the Teófilo Stevenson era were among the most politically fraught of the modern Olympics. Thankfully, since Barcelona in 1992 we have been spared the boycotts and attacks that were features of the 1972 to 1988 events.

Teófilo Stevenson was a true Olympic Champion. He was unfortunate that his feats were caught up in the political strife and Cold War of the 1970s and ‘80s. It looks as if he is destined remain underrated as an Olympic Champion. Yet it is unlikely, if not impossible, that one man will ever again win three Olympic Heavyweight Boxing gold medals.