Teofilo Stevenson

Teofilo Stevenson Lawrence or simply Teofilo Stevenson is a former boxer from Cuba. He made history by remaining an amateur and refusing to become a professional. He was born on March 29, 1952 in Puerto Padre, Last Tunas Province, Cuba to father Teofilo Stevenson Patterson who was immigrant from Saint Vincent, and mother, Dolores Lawrence, a native Cuban.

As a child, Stevenson was a restless child with a quick mind. At young age of nine, he found himself sparring at the makeshift gym his father often went to. John Herrera, former national light heavyweight champion, tutored the young Stevenson and soon enough, he was fighting far more experienced boxers. This might be a David-Goliath situation, but according to Herrera, Stevenson “had what it took”. However, despite his growing improvement and excellence in boxing, Stevenson had yet to inform his mother about his activities. Eventually, Stevenson’s father told his mother and although furious at first, she finally agreed provided that Stevenson’s father would accompany him.

After receiving his “Go” signal, Stevenson continued his training under Herrera and improved greatly. Right around the mid-1960s, Stevenson won a junior title and gained additional training in Havana. In due time, his achievements caught the eye of Andrei Chervonenko, a leading coach of the new sports system in Cuba. Chervenenko was a former boxer from Moscow who created the Boxing school (Escuela de Boxeo) in Cuba, and he began to further improve Stevenson’s talents.

Stevenson improved a great deal and soon enough, he garnered a total of 8 gold medals, three of which were Olympic Gold medals. In addition, he has 1 bronze medal and no silver medals. By 1999, he retired from boxing and had run into some highly controversial run-ins with the law.

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