Rolando Garbey : 3 Olympic Games and 2 Medals

Introduction :

Rolando Garbey has participated in 3 Olympics Games with two medals. This is sufficient to justify a separate article for this pioneer of the Cuban amateur boxing.

Rolando Garbey was in the -71 kg weight division during his entire career.

Debuts :

Rolando Garbey was born on November 19th, 1947. He begins boxing around 1965 and wins the silver medal at the National Championships, losing against Andres Molina.

In 1967, during the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Garbey wins his first 2 fights and beats Victor Galindez/Argentina by ko in the 2nd, in the finals. Victor Galindez will become World professional Champion in the light-heavyweights.

Rolando Garbey, left, facing an unknown opponent

Garbey wins the bronze medal at the National Championships, losing vs Juan L. Martinez. Garbey has already lost 2 times against Martinez the same year.

1968 Olympics Games :

Garbey loses again in the Giraldo Cordova Cardin tournament in 1968, against Martinez and wins the silver medal.

Despite the victories of Juan L. Martinez, Rolando Garbey is sent to the OG. We did not find any other traces of Juan L. Martinez, who does not seem to have represented Cuba in a major championship.

Garbey wins the silver medal in Mexico City in 1968. Excerpt of the quarter-finals fight against Eric Blake/Great Britain, won by ko in the 1st round: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9qxjkS9p5w

Garbey beats Johnny Baldwin/USA in the semi-finals on point 4-1. Baldwin will have 32 fights with 5 defeats in the pro, including a loss against Marvin Hagler.

Garbey loses in the finals facing Boris Lagutin/USSR, on points 0-5. Lagutin was bronze medallist at the 1960 and gold medallist at the 1964 Olympic Games. He finishes his career with 241 victories and only 11 defeats. For this fight, Garbey has been a fighter at the international level for 2 years and is only 21 years old. Excerpt from the final http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs0A81Lhnhs

The silver medal of Garbey is the second won by Cuba in boxing, his compatriot Regueiferos has won the first, at the same games.

In 1970, Garbey wins the gold medal of the Central American Games. The same year he loses in the finals of the 1st Central American Championships.

In 1971, he beats his countryman Emilio Correa in the Giraldo Cordova Cardin tournament finals. He also wins the gold medals of the Pan American Games and Central American Championships.

1972 Olympics Games :

In 1972, at the Munich Olympics, he wins his first 3 fights before losing on points 1-4, against the Polish Wieslaw Rudkovski. The latter wins the silver medal of these OG.

Garbey is national champion in Cuba in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

In 1973, he wins the Central American championships.

1974 World Championships :

In 1974, he wins the Central American Games.

Rolando Garbey wins his first 4 fights at the World Championships in La Havana, including a preliminary match against Peter Tiepold/East Germany by TKO in the 3rd round. Too short excerpt from this fight : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsWHgbUSm30

Garbey wins the finals against Alfredo Lemus / Venezuela, on points 3-2.

Rolando Garbey, right

In 1975, Rolando Garbey loses twice vs his compatriot Luis Felipe Martinez, before beating him in the finals of the Giraldo Cordova Cardin tournament. Garbey wins the Pan American Games, beating Alfredo Lemus in the semi-finals.

(left to right) Teofilo Stevenson, Emilio Correa and Rolando Garbey at the 1975 Pan-American Games in Mexico City

1976 Olympics Games :

In 1976, Rolando Garbey loses against Luis Felipe Martinez in the finals of the Cuban Championship. He also loses at the Cup Strandzha in Sofia/Bulgaria finals, facing Tadija Kacar/Yugoslavia.

Despite these defeats, Rolando Garbey is sent at the Montreal Olympic Games. Luis Felipe Martinez wins the bronze medal at the OG in the middleweights and the silver medal at the 1978 CM (-71 kg).

Garbey wins the bronze medal in Montreal OG. He wins his first three fights before losing on points facing Tadija Kacar/Yugoslavia in the semi-finals. Kacar wins the silver medal at these OG and the silver medal at the 1978 CM. He is the brother of Slobodan Kacar, future Olympic champion.

Rolando Garbey disappears from the Cuban Olympic team in 1976.

He has met little opposition against amateur boxing stars, with the exception of Emilio Correa and Boris Lagutin.

Garbey has the particularity of having missed a medal at the 1972 OG and having come back on the podium at the 1974 CM and 1976 OG. His career at the world level lasted almost 9 years.

He stays the second Cuban Olympic medallist in boxing.

Style :

Rolando Garbey is 178 cm (sometimes cited 183 cm) for 71 kg. He is right-hander and uses a low guard. His footwork is hopping. He does not hesitate to accept the clinch and has the punch in his right fist. Many victories before the limit are written on his record.

Rolando Garbey, left. Very nice attitude

Record :

We unfortunately do not have a complete record for Garbey. An excerpt is available at this address : http://www.geocities.com/pedrinet/rgarbey.html

Where is he now ?

Rolando Garbey was the coach of Guillermo Rigondeaux.