Roniel Iglesias

Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo (born 14 August 1988) is a Cuban boxer, best known for winning the junior world title at lightweight in 2006, a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and a gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He went on to add to his already impressive Olympic resume by winning another gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo at 33-years-old.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Iglesias and the second or maternal family name is Sotolongo.

Roniel Iglesias
Born
Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo

(1988-08-14) 14 August 1988
Pinar del Río, Cuba
Statistics
Weight(s)69 kg (152 lb)
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Boxing record[1]
Total fights2
Wins2
Wins by KO1
Losses0
Draws0
No contests0
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Cuba
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2012 LondonLight welterweight
Gold medal – first place2020 TokyoWelterweight
Bronze medal – third place2008 BeijingLight welterweight
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2009 MilanLight welterweight
Silver medal – second place2017 HamburgWelterweight
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2011 GuadalajaraLight welterweight
Gold medal – first place2019 LimaWelterweight
Silver medal – second place2015 TorontoWelterweight
Pan American Championship
Gold medal – first place 2017 TegucigalpaWelterweight
Central American and Caribbean Games
Gold medal – first place2014 VeracruzWelterweight
Gold medal – first place2018 BarranquillaWelterweight

Career

In 2005, Iglesias won the national (senior) flyweight title as a 16-year-old when Olympic champion Yuriorkis Gamboa was out injured. He beat future two-time champ Yoandri Salinas and then Karel Luis in the final.[2] However, the more experienced Andry Laffita who had competed at junior flyweight was sent to the world championships.

In 2006, he competed in January at the national (senior) championships at bantamweight and lost in the semifinal to Idel Torriente, in September he had put on 6 more kilograms and won the 2006 world title at lightweight in Agadir, Morocco. In the quarterfinals he beat Éverton Lopes and then Kazach Azamat Smagulov in the final.[3]

In 2008 he won the junior welter national senior championship, he beat Richard Poll 12:9 in the final and was sent to the Olympic qualifier in Trinidad where he beat another teenager Javier Molina in the semifinal to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics where he lost his semi to defending champion Manus Boonjumnong.[4][5]

In the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Iglesias won the gold medal by defeating Denys Berinchyk from Ukraine by a score of 22–15.[6][5]

He later moved up to welterweight, which was the weight division he competed in at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[7] In the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Iglesias won a gold medal by defeating Pat McCormack from Great Britain by a score of 5–0.[8]

Results
Beijing 2008 Olympic results
  • Defeated Mahaman Smaila (Cameroon) 15-1
  • Defeated Driss Moussaid (Morocco) 15-4
  • Defeated Gennady Kovalev (Russia) 5-2
  • Lost to Manus Boonjumnong (Thailand) 5-10
London 2012 Olympic results
  • Defeated Cesar Villarraga Aldana (Colombia) 20-9
  • Defeated Everton Dos Santos Lopes (Brazil) 18-15
  • Defeated Uktamjon Rahmonov (Uzbekistan) 21-15
  • Defeated Vincenzo Mangiacapre (Italy) 15-8
  • Defeated Denys Berinchyk (Ukraine) 22-15
Rio 2016 Olympic results
  • Defeated Vladimir Margaryan (Armenia) TKO
  • Lost to Shakhram Giyasov (Uzbekistan) 3-0
Tokyo 2020 Olympic results
  • Defeated Sewon Okazawa (Japan) 3–2
  • Defeated Delante Johnson (USA) 5–0
  • Defeated Andrey Zamkovoy (Russia) 5–0
  • Defeated Pat McCormack (Great Britain) 5–0

References
  1. "Boxing record for Roniel Iglesias". BoxRec.
  2. "44.Playa Giron (Cuban National Championships) - Pinar del Rio - January 23-30 2005 (Iglesias is Rosniel Iglesias throughout)". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  3. "WorldJuniorChamps2006". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  4. Martín, Raiko (27 January 2008). "El jovencito Julio Cruz obtuvo el título en la división semicompleta del certamen - Deportes - Juventud Rebelde - Diario de la Juventud Cubana". juventudrebelde.cu. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  5. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Roniel Iglesias". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  6. "Cuban Iglesias captures welterweight gold". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  7. "Rio 2016 - Men's Welter (69kg)". Rio2016.com. 13 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  8. "Pat McCormack takes silver medal for Team GB after losing Olympic final to Cuba's Roniel Iglesias". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
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