[Hootowl 9]

I know he never fought as a Pro Boxer, but sholud have I think. I feel I'm in the ballpark on what his numbers may have been, more of a question than a statement I guess. Hope it's ok to post in this thread.

Name: Teofilo
Nickname: Stevenson
Country: Cuba
Weight class: HW
W-L-D, KOs:
Career:
BoxRec:
Born: 1952-03-29
Died:

Comments: I have added Stevenson to my TBCB game. Had he chosen to fight as a Pro I beleive
he may have been a very good HW and good for boxing. Mostly because of the political climate
at the time being the main reason not to turn Pro I guess. I actually have a printout of him
from a older game I based my numbers on, alot of reading & playtesting vs average to better
fighters in the game. Let me know if my numbers seem ok?

Teofilo Stevenson

At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson turned down an offer of $5 million from American promoters to turn professional and fight the then world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. "What is $5million against five million Cubans who love me?" asked Stevenson. His predecessors, George Foreman, Joe Frazier and light heavyweight gold medallist Ali had all gone on to become professionals and won the world title.
Stevenson won the first of his record three Olympic golds in the heavyweight boxing event at Munich in 1972. None of his opponents completed three full rounds with him. Besides his superior boxing technique, he also towered over all of them at almost 2 m.
In 1976, Stevenson came into the Olympics with the Amateur World Heavyweight and the Pan-American Games titles under his belt. He scored two knock-outs in the preliminary rounds and in the final, stopped Romania's Mircea Simon in round three.
Stevenson was 29 years old when he took part in the Moscow Olympics and not at his best. Even so, he cruised smoothly to the final with two easy knock-outs and a points win over a Hungarian boxer, Istvan Levi in the semifinal. His opponent in the final was Russian Pyotr Zaev. At least 17 cm shorter than the Cuban, Zaev lost the bout 4-1 to Stevenson in a unanimous decision. To his credit, he was only the second boxer to finish three rounds in Stevenson's 11 Olympic bouts!



Jamaican-born Teófilo Stevenson was the first boxer to win the gold medal in the same division three times. Competing in what is now known as the super-heavyweight division, Stevenson began his Olympic career at the 1972 Munich Games. At the previous year's Pan American Games, Stevenson had been defeated by Duane Bobick of the United States. This time he met Bobick in the quarterfinals and stopped him in the third round. Stevenson's semifinal victim, Peter Hussing of Germany, said, "I have never been hit so hard in all my 212 bouts. You don't see his right hand. All of a sudden it is there - on your chin." Stevenson's opponent in the final forfeited because of a broken thumb. In 1976, Stevenson disposed of his first three opponents in a record 7 minutes and 22 seconds. In the final, Mircea Simion of Romania managed to make it to the third round before his handlers threw in the towel. In the semifinals of the 1980 Olympics, István Levai of Hungary ran around the ring for three rounds to become the first Olympic boxer to go the distance against Stevenson. By defeating Pyotr Zayev of the USSR in the final, Stevenson earned his third gold medal. As late as 1986, he proved that he was still the best amateur boxer by winning the world championship at the age of 36.


Stevenson represented his country in the 1972 Olympic Games of Munich. He won the Gold medal, and then in the 1976 games, held in Montreal, Stevenson repeated the feat. By then, he had become a national hero in Cuba, and was a household name in Cuba. This was the point where he was the closest to sign a professional contract, American fight promoters offering him the amount of five million dollars to challenge world Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in his first professional bout, which would have made him the second boxer to go straight from the Olympics into a professional debut with the world's Heavyweight crown on the line, after Pete Rademacher. But he refused, asking What's five million dollars worth, when I have the love of five million Cubans?. Stevenson went to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and became the second boxer ever, after Papp, to win three Olympic boxing gold medals. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Félix Savón, also from Cuba, became the third boxer to achieve this.

Stevenson might have won a fourth gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, but the Soviet Union boycotted the games in retaliation for the United States boycott of the 1980 Moscow competition. Cuba followed the Soviet's lead, and Stevenson was deprived of the chance to earn a fourth gold. He retired from boxing shortly after.

Stevenson was named coach of Cuba's amateur boxing program, and Cuban President Fidel Castro presented him with a mansion in an exclusive residential area, a practice that Castro is known for. In 1999, he ran into trouble at Miami International Airport when, before boarding a United Airlines chartered jet that would take the Cuban national boxing team home, he allegedly headbutted a 41 year old United ticket counter employee, causing him to break his teeth. He was arrested, but soon after, he was released and returned home.

When Stevenson refused to turn professional and fight Ali, the heavyweight scene was vibrant, with fighters of the calibre of Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, George Foreman and Joe Frazier competing. Stevenson would certainly have stirred up the professional boxing world, and fight fans continue to debate the possible outcomes had he fought in the halcyon days of heavyweight boxing.



Style/Fouls
x/x Either/Seldom

CFB/S x/x 9/10
HP x 8
CKD x 2
CKO x 2
REC x 2
CUTS x 2
AP x 2
KI x 8
AGG x 8
END x 8
DEF x 2
FSt x 1
ORo x 2
DrP x 6
CON x 1
INT x 7
PRF 10
FI x 2
FO x 2
CU x 1
GFK x 2
CLI xx 72
Punches:
J xx/x 13.50/4.25
H xx/x 12.50/5.50
CR xx/x 16.75/7.50
CB xx/x 12.50/5.50
UC xx/x 14.75/7.25
PL xx 42
CP xx 40
PM xx 64
Overall x 9

Creator: Fred