Teófilo Stevenson: The Knockout Artist

Although he once was the most-feared Olympic boxer in the world, Cuban heavyweight Teófilo Stevenson entered the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow merely as the favourite. On the way to winning gold medals at the 1972 Games in Munich, West Germany, and the 1976 Games in Montreal, Stevenson beat every fighter he faced, either by knockout or technical knockout. Standing 6 feet 3 inches (1.9 metres) tall, large even for a heavyweight, Stevenson nonetheless displayed the technique of a smaller fighter. He combined a stinging left jab with an absolutely overwhelming right that sent opponents running for cover. At Moscow, however, the opposition saw a chance to perhaps overwhelm the aging 28-year-old champ.

Stevenson won his first two fights easily. In the semifinals, however, Hungarian István Levai successfully dodged Stevenson for the full three rounds, marking the first time in 10 Olympic bouts that the champ had to go the distance. The final against Pyotr Zaev of the Soviet Union also lasted three rounds, but Stevenson won a 4-1 decision to take the gold again.

Most fighters of Stevenson’s day never would have had the chance to take a crack at a third gold medal. Olympic champions usually find themselves awash in offers from professional promoters. Stevenson did too, but he turned them down, saying he chose to steer clear of the professional boxing circuits, which he felt bought and sold fighters as if they were sides of beef. So he remained an amateur, and in 1980 he became the second boxer in history to win three straight gold medals. László Papp had done so in 1948, 1952, and 1956, but Stevenson was the first to win all three fighting in the same weight class.