Cuba’s women boxers fighting for history and a debut for their nation at the

Yakelín Estornell finds boxing after wrestling career

Like Calá, Estornell came to boxing after she competed in another sport. Estornell was a wrestler – another sport Cuba is known for – and competed for her country several times between 2014 to 2019, winning the Pan American Championships in 2018.

She had retired from wrestling, and had never even tried boxing when Cuba announced it would field a women’s boxing team. Still, she wanted to give it a try.

“Although both are combat sports, boxing has nothing to do with wrestling, neither in the techniques nor in the training. They are only alike in that you have to defeat your opponent. For me it has been almost like starting from scratch,” she said in an interview in October.

At the Pan American Games, she lost her one match, a unanimous decision to Mexico’s Citlalli Ortiz. Estornell wants to win in Italy to set her on a path to achieving her Olympic dream.

“Since I was little, I liked combat sports, and I was always motivated to be able to achieve success in sports, to win medals for Cuba, to be a world or Olympic champion if I had the opportunity, like so many great Cuban athletes.”

You can follow Legnis Calá and Yakelín Estornell at the World Qualifying Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy, from 3-11 March.