Julio César La Cruz

Julio César De La Cruz Peraza (born 11 August 1989)[2] is a Cuban amateur boxer who won a gold medal at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. He is also a five-time amateur world champion, having won gold medals at the 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships.

Julio César La Cruz
Cruz at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Birth nameJulio César De La Cruz Peraza
NationalityCuban
Born (1989-08-11) 11 August 1989
Camagüey, Cuba
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)[1]
Sport
CountryCuba
SportBoxing
Weight class
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Cuba
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 2 0 0
World Championships 5 0 1
Pan American Games 3 0 0
Central American & Caribbean Games 2 0 0
Total 12 0 1
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de JaneiroLight heavyweight
2020 Tokyo Heavyweight
World Championships
2011 BakuLight heavyweight
2013 AlmatyLight heavyweight
2015 DohaLight heavyweight
2017 HamburgLight heavyweight
2021 BelgradeHeavyweight
2019 YekaterinburgLight heavyweight
Pan American Games
2011 GuadalajaraLight heavyweight
2015 TorontoLight heavyweight
2019 LimaLight heavyweight
Central American and Caribbean Games
2014 VeracruzLight heavyweight
2018 BarranquillaLight heavyweight

Career

At the 2011 World Championships, he captained the Cuban national team,[3] where he beat number 1 seeded Egor Mekhontsev from Russia on points (21–15) in semi-final, and defeated Adilbek Niyazymbetov from Kazakhstan after 3 rounds by 17–13 finishing score in final, being the 4th World amateur boxing champion boxer from Camagüey.[4]

He grasped the gold medal at 2011 Pan American Games in which Cuba national team topped the medal table with 8 golds and 1 silver.[5] He beat Carlos Gongora of Ecuador in the semi-finals and Yamaguchi Falcão Florentino of Brazil in the final on points (22–12).[6]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was upset by Falcão Florentino in the quarterfinals in a rematch from the 2011 Pan American Games.[7]

At the 2013 World Championships in Almaty, he beat Serge Michel, Oleksandr Ganzulia, Abdelhafid Benchabla and Joe Ward, before again beating Niyazymbetov in the final.

On 4 January 2014, Julio Cesar la Cruz was hospitalized after being shot outside of a recreation center in his hometown of Camagüey.[8]

In 2015, he again won the gold at the AIBA World Boxing Championships held in Doha.

He won the gold medal at the men's light heavyweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[9]

La Cruz sports a 21–3 record in the World Series of Boxing.[10]

In the 2020 Summer Olympics, he gained attention for expressing his support for the Cuban government by declaring after his quarterfinal win over a Cuban-born Spanish opponent, "Patria y vida, no. ¡Patria o muerte, venceremos!".[11] After returning to Cuba, La Cruz received a fish and two bottles of soft drink as rewards for his competition in the Olympics.[12]

In 2021, he again won the gold at the men's heavyweight held in Tokyo.[13]

References
  1. "BoxRec: Julio Cesar La Cruz". BoxRec. Retrieved 27 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Boxing la CRUZ Julio - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympics.com. Retrieved 27 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. "No rest bite for Cuban squad". AIBA. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  4. Florencio Rodriguez, Luis (17 October 2011). "Boxers of Camagüey to Ratify their Worth in Pan-American Games". cadenagramonte.cu. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  5. "Cuba's Panamerican supremacy". AIBA. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  6. "Cuba win a total of eight gold medals in Guadalajara". AIBA. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  7. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Julio César La Cruz". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  8. Elisinio Castillo (4 January 2014). "Cuban Amateur Star, WSB Fighter is Shot in Camaguey". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  9. "Julio Cesar la Cruz". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  10. http://www.worldseriesboxing.com/boxers/la-cruz-julio-cesar/
  11. https://www.telemundo20.com/deportes/juegos-olimpicos-tokio-2020/videos-juegos-olimpicos-tokio-2020/patria-o-vida-no-mensaje-polemico-del-boxeador-cubano-tras-ganar-su-pelea-en-tokyo-2020/2135570/
  12. "Julio César La Cruz y lo que vale un "Patria o Muerte"". ADN Cuba (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  13. "Tokyo Olympics: Julio Cesar la Cruz wins heavyweight final for Cuba's third boxing gold". bbc.com.
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