The Cuban government’s abolishment of professional sports in the early 1960s had an immediate & profound impact on the country’s sporting landscape.  Boxing and baseball were the leading participant sports in an island nation proud of its sports history, and their future would be forever changed with the decision to end professionalism in the country.

This unexpected change in political philosophy led to the exodus of Cuba’s top professional boxers seeking their fame and fortune on foreign soil.  Among those deciding to continue their professional careers outside of Cuba were Ultiminio “Sugar” Ramos, Benny “Kid” Paret,  Luis Manuel Rodriguez and Jose “Mantequilla” Napoles.  

Each one would ultimately reach the pinnacle of their sport by winning a World Championship, and all except Paret were later inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

The careers of the above named four Cuban legends were individually profiled in Parts 1 through 4 of this  CUBA: BOXING GLORY LOST series.   They were joined in exile by Jose Legra,  Florentino Fernandez,  Jose Stable,  Douglas Vaillant,  Isaac Logart,  Angel Robinson Garcia, Wilfredo Hurst and Baby Luis.  These dozen Cuban fighters formed the nucleus of the exodus out of Cuba due to the ban on professionalism.  The fighters profiled in this Part 5 of the series on Cuba were able to achieve various levels of success in their boxing careers, one of them winning a world championship (Jose Legrá),  others by becoming highly ranked in their divisions but unsuccessfully challenging for a world title (Florentino Fernandez, Douglas Vaillant and Jose Stable).  

JOSE LEGRA

Jose Legra  began his professional career in 1960 at the age of 17 and fought his first 9 fights in Cuba with moderate success.   He moved his home base to Mexico and in a little over two years had 21 wins and only 2 losses, becoming a highly ranked fighter in the Featherweight division.  Towards the end of 1963, Legra permanently moved to Spain and in the next five years accumulated an astounding record of 78 wins (26 by KOs)  only 1 loss and 2 draws.  His lone defeated came at the hands of  future world champion Howard Winstone of Wales, a loss which he would later avenge.  

This impressive winning streak earned Legra a fight in 1968 for the Featherweight championship of the world held by Howard Winstone himself.  Legra not only avenged the earlier loss but also stripped the title from Winstone by stopping the champion in five rounds.  Another Cuban emigrant had reached the top of the boxing world!!!

However, Legra was unable to celebrate his reign as champion for long, as he lost his title in a close decision to Johnny Famechon a few months later.   The now ex-champion regained some of his lost glory by later capturing the prestigious European Featherweight title while winning 21 of his next 23 fights.  

Getting yet another opportunity to challenge for a title, Legra became Featherweight champion of the world for the second time by defeating Mexico’s Clemente Sanchez in 1972.   However, as with his previous stint as champion, Legra lost his title in his next defense by decision to the great future Hall-of-Famer, Eder Jofre of Brazil.  Following his second short reign as champion,  Legra’s loss to Hall-of-Famer Alexis Arguello of Nicaragua via a devastating one round knockout led to a long layoff from boxing for the Cuban native.  Although he returned to the ring wars two years later with a victory, Legra announced his retirement from boxing in 1975 at 32 years of age.

During his illustrious 15-year boxing career,  Jose Legra had an outstanding record of 134 wins (49 by KOs) only 12 losses and 4 draws.  He was known as an excellent boxer with outstanding foot and hand speed, and also exhibited surprising power.   His boxing ability earned him the nickname of  “Pocket Cassius Clay”.   Jose Legra is currently on the International Boxing Hall of Fame’s eligibility list for possible induction, an honor that has thus far eluded this deserving two-time world champion.

FLORENTINO FERNANDEZ

During his 16-year professional career, Florentino “Floro” Fernandez earned a well deserved reputation as one of the most feared punchers in boxing, as attested by his 43 KOs in 50 career victories.  He began his career winning his initial 21 fights on Cuban soil, scoring 15 consecutive KOs,  including an impressive KO win over American import Paddy DeMarco.

Fernandez gained world wide recognition as a Welterweight by winning 6 of his next 8 fights in venues such as New York and Miami Beach (where he permanently settled), defeating such top names as Gaspar “Indian” Ortega (twice) and Ralph Dupas.  One of his losses was to the great Emille Griffith by decision in what proved to be his last encounter in the Welterweight division. 

Fernandez found the heavier Middleweight division more to his liking and quickly became a television fan favorite. His three consecutive KO wins over highly regarded Phil Moyer, Rory Calhoun and France’s Marcel Pigou earned “Floro” a well deserved title challenge in 1961 against future Hall-of-Famer Gene Fullmer, the Middleweight champion.   After a hard fought 15-round battle in the champion’s hometown of Ogden, Utah, Fullmer retained his title by a close split decision over the power punching Cuban.  Fernandez’ powerful attack had the champion retreating at the fight’s end, but the more experienced Fullmer was able to prevail and turn back “Floro” in what would be his one and only challenge at a world title.

Following his title loss, Fernandez’ career was derailed with KO losses to future Hall-of-Famer Dick Tiger (broken nose) , Joey Giambra (cut eye and bloody nose) and a devastating first round KO loss to the hard punching Rubin “Hurricane” Carter.   During the next 6-years,  the still exciting Fernandez encountered moderate success, including KO wins over Jose “Chegui” Torres (future Light Heavyweight champion), Joe DeNucci and the tough “Rocky” Rivero.  However, the losses were coming more frequently, and after consecutive KO losses in 1967,  “Floro” retired from boxing.  A return to the ring after a 2-year hiatus found Fernandez winning seven consecutive fights by KO, but another KO loss in 1972 convinced Fernandez that it was time to permanently hang up the boxing gloves.  His career record was 50 wins (43 by KO), 16 losses and 1 draw. His outstanding punching power made Florentino Fernandez an exciting fighter who garnered television and box office appeal during his lengthy career. 
 

JOSE STABLE

This 18-year old Cuban welterweight began his career in 1959 with a record of 12 wins and only 1 loss, that to the veteran Angel Robinson Garcia.  His permanent departure from Cuba in 1960 found Stable relocating to New York, where he remained for the duration of his career.  He had a successful 8-year career wherein he defeated many of the top fighters in his division.

The smooth boxing, aggressive Stable gained world wide recognition as one of the best fighters in his division by winning 13 of the next 14 fights after arriving in his adopted New York, with his only defeat at the hands of England’s Dave Charnley.  The Cuban native earned a shot at the Welterweight title against champion Emille Griffith in 1965 on the strength of impressive wins over highly regarded contenders Kenny Lane, Stan “Kitten” Hayward, the unbeaten Dick Turner,  Gabe Terronez, Sugar Cliff and future champion Curtis Cokes.  However, good fortune did not accompany Stable into the ring at New York’s Madison Square Garden, as champion Griffith won a hard fought unanimous decision and retained his title.  This was to be Stable’s only opportunity at a world title.

Jose Stable reached his peak as a boxer with his challenge of Griffith and was unable to recapture his previous top form after the loss,  winning only 1 of his next 10 fights.  Although his losses were to world ranked fighters Percy Manning, Brian Curvis, Ernie “Indian Red” Lopez,  “Gypcy” Joe Harris, Art Hernandez, and Gabe Terronez, he was no longer a serious contender.  After a loss to Danny Perez in his final fight in 1967,   Stable’s career was over at 27 years of age.  He finished with a career record of  27 wins (10 by KO) and 12 losses.

More bad fortune was to fall upon Stable in 1981 in Miami, as he shot a police officer who was trying to arrest him for failing to make a scheduled court appearance.  The officer survived, but Stable was sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder.  His aggressive, tough demeanor in the ring led to his downfall out of the ring. 
 

DOUGLAS VAILLANT

An excellent boxer-puncher, Vaillant began his career in Cuba in 1957 and won his first 15 fights, with 12 wins by KO, and suffered only one loss.  Following many of his fellow Cuban boxers in their departure from Cuba, he settled in Miami and joined the stable of fighters trained by Hall-of-Famer Angelo Dundee.

During his brief  seven year career, Vaillant faced some of the world’s top fighters such as Alfredo Urbina, Angel “Robinson” Garcia, Carlos “Morocho” Hernandez,  Kenny Lane,  Bunny Grant, and Sandro Lopopolo.  A globetrotting fighter, he often fought at his opponents’ hometown.  Vaillant’s  signature victory was a decision win over  England’s Dave Charnley,  the highly rated European Champion who twice challenged for the world Lightweight title.

Vaillant’s opportunity at achieving greatness came in 1963 in Puerto Rico when he challenged for the world Lightweight title held by Carlos Ortiz.  Future Hall-of-Famer Ortiz turned back the Cuban’s attempt to win a championship by decking him five times and recording a 13^th round KO victory.  Vaillant was unable to add his name to the list of other Cuban born world champions in his only attempt at a world title. 

Douglas Vaillant retired in 1964 with a record of 32 victories (16 by KO) and 8 losses.  Rumored to be battling depression, he committed suicide in his adopted Miami in 1985 at the age of 47 years old.  A little known fact is that Vaillant was the half brother of Cuban legend Luis Manuel Rodriguez. 
 

ISAAC LOGART

A very good boxer-puncher,  Isaac Logart had a record of 60 wins with only 15 losses from the beginning of his career in 1949 (at the age of 16)  thru 1960, facing some of the top fighters in the world.  His early fights were held mostly in Cuba, although he later faced top rated fighters in South Florida,  Jamaica, Argentina, France and in New York, where he made his permanent residence.  During these years, he had excellent wins over Gil Turner (twice), Gaspar “Indian” Ortega (twice),  Yama Bahama,  highly rated Argentinean Jorge Fernandez and future Welterweight champion Virgil Akins.  He also had losing efforts against future world champions Joe Brown, Virgil Akins, Luis Manuel Rodriguez and Don Jordan, and also to tough Puerto Rican Jose “Monon” Gonzalez.

During his later years, Logart began to show the effects of a long, tough boxing career.  Although he continued to face top fighters in the world, the losses came more frequently than the victories, and he became a very capable “opponent” for young, rising fighters.   He was defeated by highly ranked boxers such as Argentinean Jorge Fernandez, Dick Turner, Garland “Rip” Randall,  Stan “Pineapples” Harrington of Hawaii, Gabe Terronez, Andy “Kid” Heilman, “Irish” Bobby Cassidy,  and Brian Curvis of Wales.  After a draw against Blair Richardson in 1966, Logart announced his retirement with a career record of 69 wins, 32 losses and 10 draws.