Félix Savon dominated amateur boxing's heavyweight division for fourteen years, beginning in 1986, when he won his first world championship. Unfortunately, he was unable to take part in the 1988 Olympic Games because his nation, Cuba, boycotted them.
The biggest obstacle were the quarterfinals
Savon did fight in the 1992 Games. In the quarterfinals, he faced an unexpected obstacle: Danell Nicholson of the United States. Savon was forced to come from behind in the last round to win 13-11. The rest of his bouts were easy, and culminated in a 14-1 victory in the final over David Izonritel of Nigeria.
One out of three
Savon was not seriously challenged at the 1996 Olympic Games, winning a second gold medal by beating David Defiagbon of Canada 20-2. At the Sydney Games of 2000, Savon, by now 33 years old, again won easily, defeating Sebastian Köber of Germany 14-8 in the semifinals and Sultan Ahmed Ibragimov of Russia 21-13 in the final. Savon, who stood 1.98m, is one of only three boxers to win three gold medals.
