HAVANA – Lazaro Perez jabs rhythmically at his rival in a steamy Havana gym, dancing, feinting and punctuating each blow with a grunt.
After the final bell, he thrusts a weary arm skyward in triumph, and a proud smile spreads across a face still years from feeling a razor’s scrape. Perez has just become Havana’s first under-75-pound (34-kilogram) boxing champion in a new age category for 9- and 10-year-olds.
Boxing-mad Cuba is putting its athletes in the ring earlier than ever. The idea is that those who start young will have a critical edge in the sport’s motions and techniques when they start competing more seriously down the road.
It’s part of a top-to-bottom shake-up aimed at restoring Cuban boxing to its former glory after the national squad returned from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing without a gold medal for the first time in 40 years.
“I started boxing to follow in my father’s footsteps,” said Perez, a small and wiry 9-year-old in black boxing shorts and blue T-shirt. “I’m not afraid. I’m fast, and I really like it. I want to be great like (Olympic and professional champion Yuriorkis) Gamboa, the boxer I admire most, and win lots of medals like (Felix)
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