Robeisy Ramirez abandons Cuban national team, expected to defect

Two-time Olympic gold medal winner Robeisy Ramirez, 24, has reportedly abandoned the Cuban national team while in training camp in Aguascalientes, Mexico — a move believed to be an attempt at defecting from the country in a bid to turn professional.

Ramirez took flyweight gold in the 2012 London games before moving up four years later to take yet another gold medal in the bantamweight division over highly touted prospect Shakur Stevenson in 2016.

Should Ramirez successfully defect and turn to professional boxing in American he would follow in the footsteps of a number of other Cuban amateur standouts who have fled the impoverished nation, including the likes of: Erislandy Lara, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Luis Ortiz, Joel Casamayor, and others.

Cuba has had a powerhouse boxing team for many, many years now, but with little-to-no financial prospects a lot of the top talent have elected to leave the country to earn a better living for themselves and their families.