The countdown has begun for the 248 boxers from 68 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), as their view for glory and a place in history. The Preliminary Round of 32 for men’s 63.5 kg. kicked off the day before yesterday. The Bulgarian Radoslav Simeonov Rosenov and the Jordanian Obada Alkasbeh had qualified for the round of 16. Both won on points (WP). The following day, Cuba’s Erislandy Alvarez scored an early stoppage over Papua New Guinea’s John Ume. Kazakh boxer Muhammad Sabyr Bazarbay Ulu also joined him.

Amateur boxing handle ‘nationalboxeo’ shared the footage of Alvarez winning his match through an Instagram post. Needless to say, the post has been garnering some attention, especially among fans of Cuban boxing.

Erislandy Alvarez: The Cuban Tradition Continues

Providing details of Erislandy Alvarez’s win over John Ume, the message read, “Erislandy Alvarez🔴(CUB) 🆚 John Ume🔵(PNG) at the 2024 Olympic Games 🏟️ in Paris, France 🇫🇷. Erislandy (30-5) Knocks out John (18-9) after 2 standing 8 counts & 1 knockdown. He will face Jughurta Ait Bekka (15-8) of Algeria 🇩🇿 in the next round.”

The clip begins with Alvarez throwing a vicious body shot with his left and then ducking Ume’s left to deliver a left hook to the Papuan’s face. The 27-year-old Port Moresby resident clearly appeared a bit frustrated, as he found himself unable to counter the Cuban effectively.

Interestingly, Alvarez once again went for an attack with the left body shot. He followed it with a right overhand. But it gave enough time for Ume to close in. A right upper cut from Alvarez missed the mark. One more left hook landed neatly on John Ume’s face. The next sequence features the knockdown segment.

From Paris, With Punches

The left-right-left combination did the work for Erislandy Alvarez as he walked away, after watching him fall down on the canvas. Let’s check what a few of the fans had to say about the knockdown.

This user sounded a bit concerned about the way the Papuan fighter John Ume was fighting, who appeared stumbling with poor coordination against the skilled Cuban. “Wtf is wrong with the blue fighter? Is he drunk?” they said. The next fan lauded Alvarez for displaying explosive power and fantastic skills. They also appreciated Ume for the way he took the shots. However, the fan seems to suspect that the Cuban might have used an elbow towards the end of the combination he used, which sent the Papuan boxer down. They said, “He elbowed him in the last shot of that combination; they put him down, but either way, he is explosive, and very good dynamite performance by him and young chin on that fighter from PAU.”

Given Erislandy Alvarez’s professional record, this follower, however, doesn’t appear too happy with the advent of pro-boxers into the amateur arena. Since it might create an uneven playing field, the user feels that fighters should commit to either staying professionals or amateurs, but not both. “You can be pro and fight in amateur that’s trap or one or the other,” they said. To the next fan, the way Alvarez fought reminded him of Jorge ‘El Guajito’ Gutiérrez. The legendary Cuban boxer won Olympic gold for his country at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. “Reminds me of Jorge Gutierrez,” they said.

Voicing their enthusiastic support for the Cuban fighter, this fan urged him to become a champion soon. On behalf of Alvarez, the fan, it appears, even called out ‘Tank’ Davis. They said, “Let’s go 🇨🇺 🇨🇺 🇨🇺 become champion tank I’m coming to you.” Finally, given the surname that the Cuban shares with the super middleweight champion, Canelo Alvarez, the following fan perhaps tried to draw a similar dynamic, style, and competitive level between the two: “Erislandy (Lara and canelo) Alvarez.”

Alvarez will now meet the Algerian Jugurtha Ait Bekka in the round of 16.

It’s worth noting that Erislandy Alvarez joins his country’s famed boxing team after three professional bouts under his belt. Marking his debut last February, the Cienfuegos-born fighter scored a unanimous victory over Mexican Roberto Gomez early this January.

What’s your take? Do you believe that Cuban boxers will once again repeat their past performances or will face tough competition from other countries?