HAVANA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Three Cuban boxers will attend the Boxing World Junior Championships to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from April 10-20, a competition that will grant tickets for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
Humberto Horta, the Cuban coach, said the goal of the team is to win medals and get a ticket for the 2nd Youth Olympic Games to be held in Nanjing, China, from Aug. 16-28.
The Cuban team includes Alain Limonta, world champion in the 60kg junior category, featherweight Javier Ibanez and cruiserweight Yordan Hernandez.
As part of the training for the Sofia championships, Ibanez and Hernandez participated in Kazakhstan's Mengerei Jairutdinov International Tournament held in December, where both won.
Week later, the three Cuban boxers won two local competitions held in Cuba's southern city of Cienfuegos and in Havana.
Also, the Cuban team participated in Russia's Anapa tournament, where they faced several boxers who would be their rivals in the Bulgarian championships.
Boxing is considered as the flagship of Cuban sport. Cubans have won a total of 71 gold, 20 silver and 25 bronze medals in world junior championships.
Cuba has also won 34 gold medals in Olympic Games and more than 60 titles in world championships.