Cuba to boycott world championships in Chicago

According to La Prensa Latina, Cuba has announced its boxers will not participate to the world amateur championships to be held in Chicago this October. The news means that it will be much easier for the eleven U.S. Olympic representatives to actually compete in the Beijing Olympics next year and harder for the Cubans.  The U.S. Olympic trials were held last week, but the eleven winners still must qualify internationally to make it into the 2008 Olympic Games tournament.  There are only three qualifying tournaments, with the first one being the world championships in Chicago from October 23 through November 3, 2007. The top eight finishers in the light flyweight through light heavyweight divisions and the top four boxers in the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions will earn Olympic spots, and getting that far will be significantly easier if the Cuban team is out of the equation. The Cubans will now be limited to two chances to qualify instead of three. History shows that the U.S. has done very well on its own soil without Cubans present: Cuba and the Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and the U.S. had a record medal haul: Pernell Whitaker, Meldrick Taylor, Mark Breland, Frank Tate, Henry Tillman, Tyrell Biggs, Paul Gonzalez, Steve McCrory and Jerry Page won gold medals, Virgil Hill claimed silver and Evander Holyfield got a bronze medal (after losing by controversial disqualification). --Scott Shaffer