Being a gold medallist in the Olympic Games of Munich'72, Montreal'76, and Moscow'80 make him the best heavyweight boxer in amateur boxing and maybe one of the greatest in any division.
He was in agreement with the Cuban decision of not assisting, for security reasons, to the Olympic Games of Los Angeles'84. If it had been so, he would have had the real possibility of winning four titles in Olympic events.
He received numberless proposals to jump to professional boxing and he always had the same answer for them: "I don't trade my homeland for all the gold of the world."
He was never knocked out. His fists were demolishing and more than once he knocked his rivals out with just a jab. He received all the titles offered by the International Association of Amateur Boxing (AIBA), including Van Balker Cup and the Fair Play Trophy.
He was born in a sugarcane zone near Puerto Padre, in Cuba's northeastern region. His first high-level victory took place in the Pan-american games Cali'71, where he defeated in the gold medal combat the American Duanne Bobick, the same rival he had in Munich'72 final.
Furthermore, he conquered one after another all the titles of his division in the world championships that took place from 1974, in Havana. Some years after that, he was about to fight with the legendary Casius Clay, professional heavyweight champion.
He achieved 15 national titles and 14 crowns in the International Tournaments "Giraldo Córdova Cardín", held annually in Cuba.
When he retired from active boxing, he was still in a really good shape. After little more than half a century of life and 40 years devoted to boxing in one way or another, this giant, physically and personally speaking, still enjoys the love that his people have always felt for him.