Rolando Garbey

Cuban light-middleweight boxer Rolando Garbey was a World Champion, two-time Olympic medallist, and a three-time Pan American Games champion. Garbey was the first boxer to win three titles at the Pan American Games, with his incredible run beginning at the 1967 Games in Winnipeg with victory against Víctor Galíndez of Argentina. He retained his title four years later in Cali, Colombia, defeating Mexico’s Emeterio Villanueva, and won his third and final Pan American Games title in 1975 in Mexico City with a win over Michael Prevost of Canada.

Garbey had an impressive Olympic record, competing at three Games where he won two medals. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics he won silver after losing to the Soviet boxer Boris Lagutin in the final. After finishing in joint-fifth place at the 1972 München Games he then won bronze at 1976 at Montréal. In between his last two Olympic appearances Garbey won gold at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in Cuba where he defeated Alfredo Lemus of Venezuela. He also won gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1970 and 1974.

After retiring from the sport Garbey coached in Cuba, Angola, Algeria, Mexico, and Venezuela. He was later named on a list of the 100 best athletes of the 20th century in Cuba. His sister Marcia also represented Cuba at the Olympics.