# Julio César La Cruz Peraza

**Date of birth:** August 11, 1989

**Categories:** Sports, boxing

Julio César La Cruz Peraza, known as La Sombra (The Shadow), is a Cuban boxer born on August 11, 1989, in Camagüey, Cuba. He is the only boxer in history to win Olympic gold in the super-heavyweight division at two consecutive Games, claiming the title at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. He also holds three amateur World Championship titles and four Pan-American championship crowns, along with fifteen Cuban national titles.

Raised in Camagüey, he began boxing at age six under coaches Yuri Triana and Renaldo Toledo. Although he narrowly missed qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he returned stronger and dominated international amateur boxing for decades. He was named Cuba's best athlete of the year in 2011 and best boxer in the Americas that same year by the American Boxing Confederation.

In 2021 he transitioned to the professional ranks, accumulating four consecutive victories with his sights set on the WBA super cruiserweight world title. He currently trains in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He is considered a Glory of Cuban Sport.