Matanzas.-This Tuesday, around five in the afternoon, the bandmaster Orestes Pedroso carried out his last fight, at the age of 73. Weaken the heart, his fierce rival out of the quadrangle.
The legendary boxer, his physical strength and his constant beating gave him great authority over the ring, It was easy to identify, because in front of him and none of them questioned his courage. Of those who never “threw in the towel.”
He became one of the most important names in Cuban boxing after his stunning victory over American Leon Spinks, in the gold medal discussion in the light heavyweight division, during the Pan American Games in Mexico (1975). ). Down on the scoreboard, the killer came out in the third round to win at any cost and ended up winning in a close duel, in which he even suffered a fracture in one of his hands.
It was the fight that rocked him, as the American would later become a legend. A year later, Spinks defeated Sixto Soria at the Montreal Olympics, and would later become world heavyweight champion in professional boxing, no more and no less than against the legendary Muhammad Ali. Interestingly, Spinks died last February at the age of 67, a victim of prostate cancer.
Another of the memories that will best be preserved by those who met Pedroso was his simplicity, the man who never forgot his origins and who enjoyed talking to those who questioned him in the middle of the street.