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Julio César La Cruz
Cruz at the 2016 Olympics
Born	Julio César De La Cruz Peraza (1989-08-11) 11 August 1989 (age 35) Camagüey, Cuba
Other names	La Sombra
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Reach	78 in (198 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	3
Wins	3
Wins by KO	2
Medal record Men's boxing Representing  Cuba Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Light heavyweight 2020 Tokyo Heavyweight World Championships 2011 Baku Light heavyweight 2013 Almaty Light heavyweight 2015 Doha Light heavyweight 2017 Hamburg Light heavyweight 2021 Belgrade Heavyweight 2019 Yekaterinburg Light heavyweight Pan American Games 2011 Guadalajara Light heavyweight 2015 Toronto Light heavyweight 2019 Lima Light heavyweight 2023 Santiago Heavyweight Central American and Caribbean Games 2014 Veracruz Light heavyweight 2018 Barranquilla Light heavyweight 2023 San Salvador Heavyweight Pan American Championship 2017 Tegucigalpa [fr] Light heavyweight

Julio César De La Cruz Peraza (born 11 August 1989) is a Cuban professional boxer. As an amateur he won gold medals at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics, and the 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships. As a professional, he has qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Amateur career

At the 2011 World Championships, he captained the Cuban national team, where he beat number 1 seeded Egor Mekhontsev from Russia on points (21–15) in semi-final, and defeated Adilbek Niyazymbetov from Kazakhstan after 3 rounds by 17–13 finishing score in final, being the 4th World amateur boxing champion boxer from Camagüey. He grasped the gold medal at 2011 Pan American Games in which Cuba national team topped the medal table with 8 golds and 1 silver. He beat Carlos Gongora of Ecuador in the semi-finals and Yamaguchi Falcão Florentino of Brazil in the final on points (22–12).

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was upset by Falcão Florentino in the quarterfinals in a rematch from the 2011 Pan American Games. At the 2013 World Championships in Almaty, he beat Serge Michel, Oleksandr Ganzulia, Abdelhafid Benchabla and Joe Ward, before again beating Niyazymbetov in the final. On 4 January 2014, Julio Cesar la Cruz was hospitalized after being shot outside of a recreation center in his hometown of Camagüey. In 2015, he again won the gold at the AIBA World Boxing Championships held in Doha.

He won the gold medal at the men's light heavyweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. La Cruz sports a 21–3 record in the World Series of Boxing. In the 2020 Summer Olympics, he gained attention for expressing his support for the Cuban government by declaring after his quarterfinal win over a Cuban-born Spanish opponent, "Patria y vida, no. ¡Patria o Muerte, Venceremos!", citing the national motto of Cuba which was created by Fidel Castro. In 2021, he again won the gold at the men's heavyweight held in Tokyo.

Professional boxing record

References

1. "Boxing la CRUZ Julio". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
2. "No rest bite for Cuban squad". AIBA. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
3. Florencio Rodriguez, Luis (17 October 2011). "Boxers of Camagüey to Ratify their Worth in Pan-American Games". cadenagramonte.cu. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
4. "Cuba's Panamerican supremacy". AIBA. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
5. "Cuba win a total of eight gold medals in Guadalajara". AIBA. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
6. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Julio César La Cruz". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
7. Elisinio Castillo (4 January 2014). "Cuban Amateur Star, WSB Fighter is Shot in Camaguey". www.boxingscene.com. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
8. "Julio Cesar la Cruz". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
9. "World Series of Boxing". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
10. ""Patria y vida, no": Mensaje polémico de boxeador cubano tras ganar su pelea en Tokyo 2020".
11. "Tokyo Olympics: Julio Cesar la Cruz wins heavyweight final for Cuba's third boxing gold". BBC Sport.

External links

• Boxing record for Julio Cesar la Cruz from BoxRec (registration required)
• Julio Cesar La Cruz at AIBA.org (archived) (archive)
• Julio César la Cruz at Olympedia (archive)
• Julio Cesar La Cruz at Olympics.com
• Julio Cesar la Cruz Peraza at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
• Julio César La Cruz Peraza at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games

Olympic Games
Preceded byMijaín López Yaime Perez	Flag bearer for  Cuba Paris 2024 with Idalys Ortiz	Succeeded byIncumbent

• 1989 births
• Living people
• Boxers at the 2011 Pan American Games
• Boxers at the 2015 Pan American Games
• Boxers at the 2019 Pan American Games
• Light-heavyweight boxers
• Heavyweight boxers
• Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba
• Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics
• Olympic boxers for Cuba
• Cuban male boxers
• Sportspeople from Camagüey
• AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists
• Olympic gold medalists for Cuba
• Olympic medalists in boxing
• Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
• Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Pan American Games medalists in boxing
• Shooting survivors
• Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba
• Competitors at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games
• Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games
• Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in boxing
• Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games
• Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games
• Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games
• Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
• 21st-century Cuban sportsmen
• Boxers at the 2023 Pan American Games
• Boxers at the 2024 Summer Olympics