Cuban sports authorities approve boxing for Cuban women

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 5 (ACN) The Cuban Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER by its Spanish acronym) announced today that Cuban women will have the possibility of officially competing in boxing, thus fulfilling a dream of many years of work.

INDER considers it appropriate to approve the proposal to include women's boxing in the system of sports preparation and training, as well as to give greater rights and possibilities of inclusion and participation to Cuban women, said the vice president of the highest sports body, Ariel Sainz Rodriguez, at a press conference held in Havana.

Women boxers may be hired with the same rights as men, which will provide sources of income for their families. Our women will have more spaces in the sports world, without discrimination or exclusion of any kind, he said.

Undoubtedly, Sainz Rodriguez added, this sport seems rough, but in its competitions there is no aggressiveness and there is a lot of safety with the use of head, mouth, genital and chest protectors, as well as the use of heavier gloves than for men (11 ounces), which results in less traumatic blows.

Meanwhile, Alberto Puig de la Barca, president of the Cuban Boxing Federation, explained that the strategy for the development of women's boxing will consist of two initial stages: the first one will be faster in view of the Pan American Games of Chile 2023 -including the Central American Games of San Salvador 2023-, and the second one will be extended until the Olympic Games of Paris 2024.

From next 16 to 17, we will carry out a preparation competition with the 48 best female boxers in order to choose 12, two in each of the six existing divisions in the international context. We already have in Cuba the means of protection to start working, Puig de la Barca concluded.