Cuban boxing faced a demanding night this Friday, April 24, in Santiago, Chile, as part of the \u201cKO a las Drogas\u201d card organized by the World Boxing Association (WBA). The spotlight was firmly on Paris Olympic champion Erislandy \u00c1lvarez, who headlined the co-feature against Panama\u2019s Jos\u00e9 \u201cEl Magn\u00edfico\u201d N\u00fa\u00f1ez. <\/p>\n
What was expected to be another step forward for the Cuban instead ended in a shocking and decisive defeat, stripping him of both his unbeaten record and the aura he carried as an Olympic gold medalist.<\/p>\n
\u00c1lvarez started in control. Using his trademark distance management and a sharp left jab, he dictated the pace early and scored a knockdown with a well-timed right hand. At that stage, he appeared firmly in command.<\/p>\n
The fight, however, shifted dramatically in the second round. N\u00fa\u00f1ez, fighting out of the southpaw stance, made key adjustments and began finding his range. After a questionable sequence that was not ruled a knockdown, the Panamanian landed a perfectly timed and powerful left cross to the chin, sending \u00c1lvarez to the canvas.<\/p>\n
Although the Cuban beat the count, he was visibly hurt. The referee, recognizing his condition, waved off the contest, awarding N\u00fa\u00f1ez a second round technical knockout victory. With the win, N\u00fa\u00f1ez captures the WBA Continental Americas title and improves to 18 wins, marking a strong start to his 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n
For \u00c1lvarez, a native of Cienfuegos, the loss represents a significant setback. He drops his undefeated record since turning professional in 2023 and raises questions about the recent development and preparation of Cuba\u2019s top tier talents transitioning into the pro ranks.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere on the card, Argentina\u2019s Jhonatan Wilson S\u00e1nchez claimed the vacant WBA Fedelatin super welterweight title with a split decision win over Cuba\u2019s Yusnier Sorsano, rallying after a technical early deficit with sustained pressure and work rate. Meanwhile, three time Olympic medalist L\u00e1zaro \u00c1lvarez (11-0, 6 KOs) remained unbeaten, stopping Brazil\u2019s Jackson Furtado in the fourth round with a composed and technically sound performance.<\/p>\n
The event, held at Gimnasio Club de Boxeo M\u00e9xico in Santiago, ultimately centered on the unexpected defeat of one of Cuba\u2019s leading boxing figures. As a broader takeaway, these fighters are currently aligned with AGON Sports, yet remain under significant influence from the Cuban Federation a dynamic that continues to impact performance. Less than a month ago, several of them competed in a three-round amateur tournament in Mexico serving as a qualifier for the Central American Games. <\/p>\n
That constant shift between amateur and professional formats, combined with ongoing training camps in Cuba where optimal conditions are not always guaranteed and limited professional experience within their coaching teams, continues to take a toll at higher levels of competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cuban boxing faced a demanding night this Friday, April 24, in Santiago, Chile, as part of the \u201cKO…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,171192,305468,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-630366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-erislandy-alvarez","12":"tag-jose-nunez","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}