Arlen López and Julio César la Cruz Lose Fight in 2023 World Boxing Tour Final

February 15, 2023

Cuban boxers Arlen López, from the 80-kilogram (kg) division, and Julio César la Cruz (92 kg), fell this Friday in their final bouts during the Moroccan stop of the Golden Belt Series of the 2023 World Boxing Tour.

According to the Jit website, the setbacks of the two-time Olympic champions, both by 1-4 scorecards, made their victors the protagonists: bronze medalist at that stage Russian Iman Khataev and number two Italian in the world Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine, respectively.

For Mouhiidine, La Cruz's rival, the bout became a rematch against the counter-punch ace, who had defeated him without major setbacks in the final of the past 2021 Belgrade world championship.

According to the head coach of Cuban boxing, Rolando Acebal, the European fought at counter-punch and countered well with combinations, backed by a plan that showed good study of the Camagüeyan, who had also found it difficult in the Serbian capital.

With this comeback, the flame of a rivalry is revived that now generates greater expectations ahead of the World Boxing Championship next May, to be held in the Uzbek city of Tashkent.

If he achieves victory in the upcoming world championship, La Cruz would be obtaining his sixth crown in universal competitions, with which he would tie the outstanding Guantanamo slugger Félix Savón.

For his part, Arlen López faced a rival who was aggressive the entire time, who barely faltered, and who only at the end of the bout received a protection count after taking a blow that put him in bad condition.

Then only three seconds remained and there was no time to return to the exchange, so now López's focus is also on the possibility of a rematch that will take place in the main city of Uzbekistan.

This stop in Morocco was the third event of the World Boxing Tour, the new and innovative competition series of the International Boxing Association, after the successful Silver Belt Series and Golden Belt Series tournaments in Slovenia and Mexico, respectively, last year.