22.02.07 – Contrary to almost fifty years of U.S. policy, three Olympic gold medalists were denied entry to the U.S. by the U.S. State Department because they were Cuban. In an administrative decision by an acting Consular Officer in Bogota, Colombia, the world champion prize fighters, who had defected from the Cuban National Boxing Team, were refused entry because they had no permanent residence even though the Department of Homeland Security had cleared them for entry..
“These brave men, who won Olympic Gold and stood up to Castro’s dictatorship, could not melt the stone cold heart of the U.S. State Department,” said Antonio Gonzalez, their agent and attorney, “It’s a sad day for freedom and for international sport.”
The prize fighters, heavyweight Odlanier Solis Fonte, flyweight Yan Barhelemy and featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa, who signed a three-year contract for bouts in Germany and in the U.S. with Hamburg-based First Artist and Arena Box were scheduled for a bout in Miami on February 23, with combined guaranteed purses well into six figures.
“They haven’t really recognized how important it is for these Olympic Gold Medal prize fighters to be able to defend their titles around the world and they are inexplicably shutting the door to these great boxers,” said Irichelle Durán, who is helping the three with their petition and is the daughter of world-famous Roberto Durán.
In spite of an established U.S. policy to admit athletes from around the world (including Cuban nationals) for championship competitions, and a separate policy to grant refugee status to Cuban defectors, the Consular official denied the visas in a classic Catch-22 theory.
Ambassador Dennis K. Hays, former State Department Coordinator for Cuban Affairs, when asked about the case, said, “The boxers have as strong a case for admission as I have ever seen. Sometimes, young inexperienced Embassy officers focus so intently on the fine print that they lose track of the bigger picture. I am confident that once a more seasoned officer reviews these applications, they will be issued.”
Because the Olympians had defected, they had no residence and thus could not come in as champion athletes or refugees.
“It is ironic to use a law that was designed to protect Cuban refugees as an excuse to deny these boxers their ability to pass through the U.S. to fight en route to their new home,” said Professor Pamela S. Falk, law professor and advisor to the group, “Given the fact that they would pay taxes and contribute to the U.S. economy, it seems particularly wrong-minded and contrary to the intent of U.S. immigration law.”
Gonzalez signed an exclusive management agreement with the three Gold medalists with his Sports Management firm, GSMG Sports Management, and represented them in negotiations with several boxing promoters, including Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Lou DiBella’s Dibella Entertainment, among others, before eventually signing with Arena Box and First Artist earlier this month.
Besides winning Olympic Gold in Athens in 2004, Odlanier Solis is a Three-Time Amateur World Champion, his most recent World Title coming in 2005 when he won the Super-Heavyweight division in China. Yan Barthelemy is also a former World Amateur Champion in addition to his 2004 Olympic Gold in the flyweight division. Junior featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa is the third Olympic Gold medalist of the group, winning Gold in Athens 2004 in the flyweight division. Each would have debuted professionally this Friday, February 23 in Miami, Florida.
“We have been bringing Latin American boxers into the U.S. for over a decade, including from the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Mexico to fight in the U.S.,” said Felix Zabala, “And it is shocking that champion Olympic Gold Medalists who left Castro’s dictatorship to compete, and who have the ability to contribute money to the U.S. economy and participate in bouts in the U.S. have been denied entry. I don’t know what the State Department is thinking when it blocks prize winning Olympic Cuban defectors to come to Miami.”
The Olympians however, see the denial as just the first round and have vowed to fight not only in the ring, but to try again, and the bout has been postponed to the following Friday, March 2, 2007, again in Miami, Florida.