Osmay Acosta
Osmay Acosta Méndez Duarte (born April 3, 1985) is a Cuban amateur boxer, who competed between 2001 and 2010, best known to win the 2007 PanAm Games at Heavyweight with 201 lbs (91 kg) limit. Career. Acosta is a 1,85 m tall fighter, a southpaw, who won the 165 lbs world cadet championships 2001 vs Zaur Teymurov and became the junior world champion at 75 kg/165 lbs in 2002 in Santiago de Cuba beating Russian Nikolai Galacki 10:9, Uzbek Alisher Matniazov KO, and Kazack Dmitriy Gotfrid in the final 14:8. At senior level he first struggled badly, in  2005 he was disqualified at the nationals at 178 lbs. At the national senior championships ("Playa Girón") 2006 he was beaten inside the distance by Odlanier Solis in an attempt to compete at super heavyweight so he dropped down to 201 lbs where he won the 2006 Central American Games. He was part of the Cuban team that won the 2006 Boxing World Cup. He became national champion at 201 lbs vs. Ismaikel Perez in 2007 and defeated southpaw Adam Willett 22:3 in the PanAm qualifyer. He won the 2007 PanAm games stopping local favourite Rafael Lima in the semifinals  and easily beating Jose Julio Payares of Venezuela 11:3 (including a knockdown) in the finals. At the Nations Cup he beat Alexander Povernov 14:8, at the Ahmet Comert Cup 2007 he defeated European Champion Denis Poyatsika. He would have been one of the top favorites at the world championships 2007 but Cuba didn't participate. Acosta was undefeated for more than a year then was upset at the 2008 Strandzha Cup by an unknown Scotsman Stevie Simmons and struggled at the National Championships. He qualified for Beijing by winning the first Olympic qualifier by beating fellow-qualifier Deontay Wilder in  the final. At the Olympics he lost to the eventual Russian winner Chakhkeiv. At the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships he defeated John M'Bumba but lost the final to fellow southpaw Egor Mekhontsev and won silver. Highlights. Cuban National Youth Championships (75 kg), Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, May 2001: XXXVII Cuban National School Games (75 kg), Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, July 2001: World Cadet Championships (75 kg), Baku, Azerbaijan, October 2001: VIII Roberto Balado Memorial (75 kg), Havana, Cuba, May 2002: World Youth Championships (75 kg), Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, November 2002: IX Roberto Balado Memorial (81 kg), Havana, Cuba , May 2003: XLIII Playa Girón (81 kg), Camagüey, Cuba, January 2004 XLIV Playa Girón (81 kg), Pinar del Río, Cuba, January 2005: XLV Playa Girón (+91 kg), Bayamo, Cuba, January 2006: III Cuban Olympiad (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, April 2006: China–Cuba Duals (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, May 2006: XX Central American and Caribbean Games, Cartagena, Colombia, July 2006: World Cup (91 kg), Baku, Azerbaijan, October 2006: XLVI Playa Girón (91 kg), Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, January 2007: I Pan American qualifier (91 kg), Barquisimeto, Venezuela, February 2007: XXVI Independence Cup (91 kg), Santiago, Dominican Republic, February 2007: National match-up  (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, March 2007: National match-up (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, April 2007: France–Cuba Duals (91 kg), Amiens, France, April 2007: Romania–Cuba Duals (91 kg), Bucharest, Romania, May 2007: XXII Ahmet Comert Memorial (91 kg), Istanbul, Turkey, May 2007: XXXVIII Giraldo Córdova Cardín (91 kg), Santa Clara, Cuba, May 2007: XV Pan American Games (91 kg), Río de Janeiro, Brazil, July 2007: Cuban National Team Championships (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, November 2007: XLVI Playa Girón (91 kg), Holguín, Cuba, January 2008: Local match-up (91 kg), Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, January 2008: LIX Strandzha Cup (91 kg ), Plovdiv, Bulgaria, February 2008: XXVII Independence Cup (91 kg), Santiago, Dominican Republic, February 2008: I Olympic Qualifier of the Americas (91 kg), Puerto España, Trinidad and Tobago, March 2008: IV Cuban Olympiad (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, April 2008: VIII Klitschko Brothers Tournament (91 kg), Kiev, Ukraine, May 2008 XXXIX Usti Nad Labem Grand Prix (91 kg), Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic, June 2008: Cuba–France Duals (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, June 2008: XXIX Summer Olympics (91 kg), Beijing, China, August 2008: Ostrava Grand Prix (91 kg), Ostrava, Czech Republic, October 2008: Cuban National Team Championships (91 kg), Santiago de Cuba , Cuba, November 2008: XLVIII Playa Girón (91 kg), Guantanamo, Cuba, January 2009: LIII Bocskai Memorial (91 kg), Debrecen, Hungary, February 2009: LX Strandzha Cup (91 kg), Plovdiv, Bulgaria, February 2009: XXIV Ahmet Comert Memorial (91 kg), Istanbul, Turkey, April 2009: XXIX Giraldo Córdova Cardín (91 kg), Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, June 2009: VIII Pan American Championships (91 kg), Mexico City, Mexico, July 2009: World Championships (91 kg), Milan, Italy, September 2009: Cuban National Team Championships (91 kg), Camagüey, Cuba, November 2009: Kazakhstan–Cuba Duals (91 kg), Astana, Kazakhstan, December 2009: Zharylgapov Memorial (91 kg), Karaganda, Kazakhstan, December 2009: XLIX Playa Girón  (91 kg), Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, January 2010: LIV Bocskai Memorial (91 kg), Debrecen, Hungary, February 2010: LXI Strandzha Cup (91 kg), Yambol, Bulgaria, February 2010: Cuba–Ecuador Duals (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, March 2010: V Cuban Olympiad (91 kg), Camagüey, Cuba, May 2010: Cuban National Team Championships (91 kg), Pinar del Rio, Cuba, November 2010: Cuban National Cerro Pelado Cup (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, December 2010: