# Julio César la Cruz shines again in his new mission at the 2025 Boxing World Championship

**Date:** 09/05/2025






Two-time Olympic champion Julio César la Cruz had several missions at the 2025 World Boxing Championship, which is being held in Liverpool from September 4-14.


Of them, perhaps the most important was to exorcise the ghosts from the last Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where he fell in his first fight and could not even come close to his ambition of winning a third Olympic gold and joining the club of the greatest Cubans in Olympic boxing: Teófilo Stevenson and Félix Savón.


But he returned. And through the big door, the one that should always be open for someone who is already a legend inside and outside the ring.


And although the draw was not kind to the most decorated Cuban champion, since on September 5 he faced in his first fight Mahammad Abdullayev, from Azerbaijan, an expert in standing on international podiums, Julio César la Cruz brought his status to the Liverpool ring. Cuba's captain achieved his first victory at the 2025 Boxing World Championship with a 5-0 decision.









 














 











 

 

 

 

 












 






 











Will Julio César la Cruz compete in the upcoming LA28 Olympic Games?
But trying to erase the ghosts of the past was not the only objective for la Cruz at this World Championship.


In this first fight in Liverpool, Julio César la Cruz debuted in a new weight category for him, the super heavyweight division of +90 kg.


His plan was to retire from Olympic boxing after Paris 2024, but the disappointment in the French capital only drove him and challenged him to not only continue, but to do so in a new world.


The 2025 Boxing World Championship represents for the captain of Cuba's "Tamers" his first international competition in his new weight category, in which he is an unknown, since he had never before faced rivals like Mahammad Abdullayev.


It is new terrain for him to continue harvesting victories.


And there is a reason for all of this: from Olympic disappointment came renewed strength for la Cruz, 36 years old.


Participating in this World Boxing 2025 Championship is undoubtedly a revelation of intentions with an eye toward the LA28 Olympic Games. Fighting in Liverpool means he has not set aside the Olympic dream, that he still hungers for a third gold.


As the fights continue, doubts will be cleared up about how the Cuban captain adapts to the +90 kg weight class and whether he can again occupy a hegemonic position in it.


And for now, he has proven that he can.








 






Next fight for Julio César la Cruz at the 2025 Boxing World Championship
With this first victory, Julio César la Cruz qualified for the round of 16, where he will face Iran's Amir Esmaeili Vandaei next Monday, September 8, at 21:15 Liverpool time.