Félix Savón facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Félix Savón
Savón (right) in 1987
Statistics
Real name	Félix Savón Fabre
Nickname(s)	Niñote ("Big Kid")
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 5 in
Reach	82 in
Nationality	Cuban
Born	(1967-09-22) 22 September 1967 (age 57) San Vicente, Cuba
Stance	Orthodox
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  Cuba Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 0 0 World Championships 6 1 0 Jr World Championships 1 0 0 Central American Championships 5 0 0 North American Championships 1 0 0 Pan American Games 3 0 0 Central American and Caribbean Games 4 0 0 World Cup 4 0 0 Total 27 1 0 Olympic Games Gold 1992 Barcelona Heavyweight Gold 1996 Atlanta Heavyweight Gold 2000 Sydney Heavyweight World Championships Gold 1986 Reno Heavyweight Gold 1989 Moscow Heavyweight Gold 1991 Sydney Heavyweight Gold 1993 Tampere Heavyweight Gold 1995 Berlin Heavyweight Gold 1997 Budapest Heavyweight Silver 1999 Houston Heavyweight Junior World Championships Gold 1985 Bucharest Heavyweight Central America and the Caribbean Championships Gold 1984 Managua Heavyweight Gold 1985 Maturín Heavyweight Gold 1988 Guatemala City Heavyweight Gold 1995 Mexico City Heavyweight Gold 1996 Guadalajara Heavyweight North American Championships Gold 1987 Toronto Heavyweight Pan American Games Gold 1987 Indianapolis Heavyweight Gold 1991 Havana Heavyweight Gold 1995 Mar del Plata Heavyweight Central American and Caribbean Games Gold 1986 Santiago Heavyweight Gold 1990 Mexico City Heavyweight Gold 1993 Ponce Heavyweight Gold 1998 Maracaibo Heavyweight World Cup Gold 1987 Belgrade Heavyweight Gold 1990 Dublin Heavyweight Gold 1994 Bangkok Heavyweight Gold 1998 Chongqing Heavyweight

Félix Savón Fabre (born September 22, 1967) is a famous Cuban former amateur boxer. He competed from 1980 to 2000. Many people consider him one of the greatest amateur boxers of all time. He won three Olympic gold medals and was the World Champion six times in a row. He achieved all these wins in the heavyweight division. In 1988, he was expected to win gold at the 1988 Summer Olympics. However, the Cuban government decided not to send its team to the event. Savón is also well-known for turning down many offers to leave Cuba and become a professional boxer. These offers were worth millions of dollars and would have allowed him to fight famous boxers like Mike Tyson.

Early Life and Boxing Start

Félix Savón was born in San Vicente, a town in Guantánamo Province, Cuba. He started his boxing journey in 1980 in Guantánamo.

His biggest inspiration to become a boxer was Teófilo Stevenson. Stevenson was another Cuban boxer who had also won three Olympic gold medals. Many in the media later saw Savón as Stevenson's successor.

Amazing Amateur Career

Félix Savón never became a professional boxer. During his career, he had an amazing record of 362 wins and only 21 losses. He even managed to get revenge for most of his losses. Only two boxers, Usman Arsaliyev from the Soviet Union and Li Dal-Chen from North Korea, defeated him by knockout without him getting a chance to fight them again.

He started winning major titles in 1985. When he was 19, he defeated America's Michael Bentt on his way to winning the 1987 Pan American Games. He also won the Cuban heavyweight title every year until he retired, except for 1999 and 2000. In those years, he lost to Odlanier Solís. Savón also won the Junior World Championships in 1985.

These early wins kicked off his incredible career. He went on to win six World Championships. His victory at the 1997 tournament was special. He had lost to Ruslan Chagaev in the final, but Chagaev was later disqualified. This happened because Chagaev had two professional fights before the championships. Even though Chagaev was later allowed to be an amateur again, Savón kept the gold medal.

In 1998, Savón had an impressive knockout win over U.S. Amateur Champion DaVarryl Williamson in the Heavyweight final of the Goodwill Games in New York. At the 1999 World Championships, he was supposed to fight American Michael Bennett in the final. However, the entire Cuban team pulled out of the competition. They did this to protest a decision by the judges in another Cuban boxer's match, which they felt was unfair. Because of this, Bennett won the final by default. Later, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, Savón defeated Bennett with a score of 23–8.

Savón won three Olympic gold medals. Only two other boxers, László Papp and his countryman Teófilo Stevenson, have achieved this same feat. He could have won a fourth Olympic gold medal if the Cuban government had allowed its team to compete in the 1988 Seoul, South Korea Olympics.

Some people criticized Savón, saying he focused too much on getting knockouts instead of winning by points. They felt he sometimes risked losing a match even when he was far ahead. Roosevelt Sanders, a U.S. boxing coach, said that if Savón had become a professional after the 1990 Goodwill Games, he would have immediately been ranked among the top professional heavyweights. Savón explained that amateur athletes are highly respected in Cuba. He said, "Athletes are the most important thing in Cuba since Castro took over. We practice sports from the age of 8."

Retirement and Later Life

After winning his third Olympic gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Savón announced he was retiring from boxing at the age of 33.

Even after retiring from fighting, Savón continued to be involved in boxing. He helped train Cuba's boxers for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

In February 2001, the band Manic Street Preachers dedicated their song "You Love Us" to Savón. This happened at a concert in Cuba, where Fidel Castro was also present. The Manic Street Preachers were the first rock band from the West to perform in Cuba.

Images for kids

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  Savón (right) in 1987