Cuban Boxers Clean Up, in and Out of the Ring : They Batter Demonstrators in Stands, Win on All Cards

Virtually the entire Cuban boxing team took on three anti-Castro demonstrators in a wild brawl in the bleachers Friday night, midway through the second session of the Pan American Games boxing tournament at the Indianapolis Convention Center.

The Cubans won.

Two badly beaten, Spanish-speaking demonstrators, who spectators said provoked the Cubans by first shouting at them and then tearing up a Cuban flag, were taken away by police. Both were bleeding badly from cuts about their eyes, and were briefly hospitalized. One was taken out of the Convention Center on a stretcher and carried to an ambulance.

An Indianapolis Police Department spokesperson said three members of the group were treated and released at a hospital.

The injured demonstrators weren’t identified late Friday but a fourth man was arrested by Indiana police police and was identified as Ramon Delemos, 35, of Dayton, Ohio. As police lead him from the building, he was heard to shout: “I am from the Dominican Republic and I am being wrongfully arrested!”

An officer, Charles Kaiser, said Delemos was arrested on disorderly conduct and resisting a law enforcement officer charges. A woman believed to be associated with the Cuba Independent and Democratic Party was also detained. She was identified as Juana Isa. Police said she and the three beaten men were members of the anti-Castro group.

The group was believed to have been involved in a baseball game incident here Sunday, when anti-Castro leaflets were tossed into the Cuba dugout.

When they fight one at a time, Cuba’s boxers are really something. They’ve dominated international amateur boxing for more than a decade.

But you should see them when they’re all fighting at once--in the bleachers. During the middle of a dull 13-bout session, at 9:30 p.m., the melee started.

Most of the Cuban boxers were seated in the front row of the bleachers, waiting to watch their light-welterweight, Candelario Duvergel, box Puerto Rican Alicio Morales.

Midway through a lightweight bout, it began. Several witness said two men halfway up the bleachers aisle suddenly unfurled a Cuban flag, shouted at the Cubans, then tore the flag as the Cubans turned around.

A Cuban man later identified by U.S. boxing officials as a Cuban security agent, ran up the aisle and attempted to take the flag away, witnesses said. Next, world light-heavyweight champion Pablo Romero ran up the aisle to assist the first Cuban.

“At that point, one of the demonstrators took a punch at Romero, and then the entire Cuban team (except Duvergel) went running up the aisle,” said USA Amateur Boxing Federation executive director Jim Fox.

“That’s when things really got hot. And it was definitely a provoked incident. “

For almost five minutes, wildly punching Cubans were leaping over seats, punching the demonstrators, while the crowd of 3,569 stood and watched, ignoring the combatants in the ring.

It was a one-sided brawl, a 15-on-3 fast break. It took about two dozen Indianapolis policemen and Pan Am Games security personnel five minutes to break it up. At least one Indianapolis cop looked as if he needed a cut man.

A spectator who was seated directly behind the Cubans said the Cubans tried to ignore the demonstrators who shouted at them, but responded when the flag was torn.

“When he pulled the flag out and tore it, that’s when the Cubans started running up the stairs,” said Mike Corriveau of Peoria, Ill.

Thirty minutes later, order seemed to have been restored. The Cubans had been moved to another seating area--and surrounded by about a dozen policemen. Romero, indicating to laughing teammates with the right hand with which he’d gotten in his best licks, tenderly folded the Cuban flag he’d retrieved and handed it to Cuba’s boxing coach, Alcides Sagarra.

Sagarra waved away reporters, saying: “No problema, no problema.”

Armando Guirola, a Cuba delegation security chief, calmly talked to a group of reporters.

“When one of our technical people was provoked, he was struck,” he said, through an interpreter.

“It looks like the games were very quiet and this group doesn’t like it. They were bothered because Indianapolis has been happy this week. The name of the group is the Cuba Independent and Democratic Party. It was the same people who were at the soccer venue earlier (this week). But that is a small venue and the police saw them, and called them into an office.

“Tonight, they took advantage of a big venue.”

When asked if the Cubans would ask that charges be filed against the demonstrators, Guirola said, through the interpreter: “I don’t think it’s worth it. Our policy is to ignore them.”

He also indicated he was happy with the response by the Indianapolis police.

Another Cuban delegation member, Julio Mena, implied the Cubans had delivered a message to anyone contemplating further demonstrations here.

“They began to insult us and our revolution,” he said. “We are not going to tolerate that. We will respond to all provocations.”

An hour later, Duvergel, with his Cuban teammates cheering from their new location, scored a 3-2 decision over Puerto Rico’s Alicio Morales.

In the interview room, he said what he knew of the incident provided a little extra in his gas tank.

“I knew my friends and comrades were involved in something, but I was in the gloving area, and I didn’t know what,” he said. “Yes, I fought harder.”

One American, flyweight Arthur Johnson, and three Cubans won Friday night. Johnson advanced to a quarterfinal bout Monday with Cuba’s Adalberto Regalado when he stopped Canada’s Corey Burton in the second round.

Before Duvergel won, Cuba’s light-flyweight world champion, Juan Torres, registered a 5-0 decision over Canada’s Scott Olson. Johnson’s victory was next, then Regalado scored a 4-1 over Colombia’s Simon Morales Mejia.

At today’s afternoon session, United States bantamweight Michael Collins and welterweight Kenneth Gould are favored to advance to quarterfinals rounds. Two Cubans are on the card, welterweight Juan Lemus and heavyweight Felix Savon.