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Havana, Jul 13 (IANS): Cuban legislators have voted to turn the childhood home of national boxing legend Teofilo Stevenson into a museum.
The three-time Olympic and World boxing champion died recently, leading the Assembly of People's Power in eastern Las Tunas province, where Stevenson was born, to propose converting the house into a shrine to the national hero, reports Xinhua.
Las Tunas provincial president Lilian Gonzalez said her administration and municipal authorities of the town of Puerto Padre, where Stevenson was born March 29, 1952, were eager to back the creation of the museum in honour of the man considered to be the best amateur boxer in history.
Stevenson, 60, died suddenly of a heart attack in Havana June 11.
During his 20-year career, the acclaimed boxer collected all of the titles the International Association of Amateur Boxing (AIBA) gives out, and won 301 of his 321 fights.
Stevenson won Olympic gold medals at Munich 1972, Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980, and World tournaments held in Havana 1974, Belgrade 1978 and Reno 1986.
In the 1980s, US boxing promoters tried to organise a fight between the two boxing greats of the time, Stevenson and Muhammad Ali, but the fight never materialised because Cuba insisted on amateur boxing rules. Ali reportedly said that the fight would have ended in a draw.
Promoters nevertheless pursued Stevenson for years, offering him millions of dollars to leave Cuba and turn pro in the United States. He never did, preferring to live in Cuba.
Stevenson retired from the ring in 1988, but continued to serve the world of boxing as vice president of the Cuban Federation of Amateur Boxing.
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