Cuba Captures Five Titles, Qualifies 13 Boxers for 2026 Caribbean Games

Cuba's boxing team locked up 13 qualification berths for the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo after dominating the qualifying tournament held March 11–16 in Guadalajara, Mexico, capturing five men's titles along the way.

The spots were clinched during the semifinal round, with Magda Massó (57 kg), Fernando Arzola (+90 kg), and Erlis Cobas (65 kg) among those who punched their tickets in emphatic fashion. Massó, the 2023 world runner-up, advanced to the title match by RSC against Salvadoran Gabriela Cárcamo. Arzola, also a 2023 world silver medalist, followed the same route. Cobas finished the tournament with a bronze at 65 kg.

The men's squad went undefeated through the competition, with Paris 2024 Olympic champion Erislandy Álvarez (65 kg), 2023 world silver medalist Saidel Horta (60 kg), and two-time world bronze medalist Alejandro Claro (55 kg) all drawing praise as top performers. Yunier Sorsano (70 kg) had secured his place in the gold medal final a day before the closing bouts, and Keylor García (80 kg) rounded out a men's side that went through Guadalajara without a loss in their category. As Radio Rebelde put it: "The conquest of five belts sealed Cuba's performance in the qualifier for the boxing tournament of the Central American and Caribbean Games of Santo Domingo 2026."

Two-time Olympic champion Julio César La Cruz (90 kg) drew attention for a different reason. During his bout, a cut forced the fight to be stopped; the team's medical staff attended to him immediately and ruled out further complications.

Among the women, Carysney García (54 kg) reached the final with a 5-0 decision over Guatemala's Jennifer Yool before falling to Colombia's Yeni Arias, ranked second in the world and the reigning Pan American Games leader in her division. Massó reached her final the same way, then lost to Venezuela's Omailyn Alcalá. Both García and Massó came away with silver medals. Cuba did not field a competitor in the women's 60 kg division, accounting for six women's spots across the six contested weight classes.

On the final Sunday of competition, the Cuban delegation posted eight victories against just one defeat, locking up multiple finalists in a single session.

The field in Guadalajara drew just over 80 boxers from 13 nations: Barbados, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and Mexico. Cuba's showing was a sharp step forward from the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, where the men collected two gold, two silver, and five bronze medals and the women, in their CAC Games debut, managed one silver and one bronze.

With 13 spots secured and five men's titles on the books, the squad heads to Santo Domingo carrying momentum and a clearer read on where it stands against the region's best.