Arlen López Cardona

Cuban boxer. In his athletic career he holds a gold medal in the Olympics in the 75 kg category, and has also been a world amateur boxing champion in the same category. At the regional level he has also achieved gold medals in the Pan American Games and Central American and Caribbean Games.

He began practicing boxing at the age of 10 after playing baseball. He was educated at the School of Scholastic Sports Initiation and the Giraldo Córdova Cardín High Performance Center and in 2008 he participated in the National School Games in which he achieved third place in the 50 kg category. His opponent in the semifinals was Robeisy Ramírez, against whom he was defeated.

For 2009, at the junior level, he achieved victory in the finals of the American Boxing Confederation (AMBC) tournaments in Quito in the 57 kg, as well as in the International Boxing Association tournament in Yerevan. In 2010 his most relevant result was the AMBC youth title, 60 kg category, in Santo Domingo (Cuba) and at the end of that year he became part of the senior national team.

In 2014 he began to participate in the World Series of Boxing, and also managed to qualify for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz. In the 75 kg event he won the gold medal by defeating Mexican Misael Rodríguez in all three rounds, and his winning streak continued with the Cuban national title by defeating Emilio Correa. That same season he won the 2013-14 World Series of Boxing with his team Domadores de Cuba.

With this previous record he presented himself at the Pan American Games in Toronto where he also won the gold medal against Colombian Jorge Vivas. New titles came in what remained of that year in the AMBC and especially in his debut at the World Amateur Boxing Championship held in Doha. In this event he defeated Uzbek Bektemir Melikuziev in all three rounds and thus won the world title in the 75 kg category.

In 2016 he prepared for his debut at the Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro. The Granma newspaper already considered him the boxer in best form of the Cuban delegation. In fact, the Guantanamo native reached the final with two fights won by unanimous decision plus a technical knockout, and in the dispute for the gold medal he faced Bektemir Melikuziev again, defeating him unanimously in the scoring of the three rounds.

He thus summarized the period that culminated with the Olympic victory:

In two years I have achieved the most precious titles: world and Olympic. And in four years I reached all the AIBA titles we can aspire to, as I was also champion of the World Series. I have achieved in a short time what many athletes have not been able to achieve in their entire athletic careers. And that makes me a happy boxer.

He won the gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the light heavyweight category.

Technical Qualities

López is an ambidextrous boxer; his height of 1.78 m favors him in keeping his rivals at distance with his jabs. In his own words he opts for speed in his movements, and he also considers himself versatile and elusive in the ring.