Roberto Balado

Roberto Balado

Balado in 1990
Personal information
Full name	Roberto Balado Mendez
Nationality	Cuba
Born	(1969-02-15)15 February 1969 Jovellanos, Matanzas Province
Died	2 July 1994(1994-07-02) (aged 25) Havana, Ciudad de la Habana
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	100 kg (220 lb)
Sport
Sport	Boxing
Weight class	Super Heavyweight
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 0 World Championships 3 0 0 Youth World Championships 1 0 0 World Cup 2 0 0 Pan American Games 1 0 0 Central American and Caribbean Games 1 0 0 Central America and Caribbean Championships 1 0 0 Total 10 0 0 Olympic Games 1992 Barcelona Super Heavyweight World Championships 1989 Moscow Super Heavyweight 1991 Sydney Super Heavyweight 1993 Tampere Super Heavyweight Youth World Championships 1987 Havana Heavyweight World Cup 1990 Bombay Super Heavyweight 1994 Bangkok Super Heavyweight Pan American Games 1991 Havana Super Heavyweight Central American and Caribbean Games 1993 Ponce Super Heavyweight Central America and Caribbean Championships 1987 San José Heavyweight

Roberto Balado Méndez (15 February 1969 – 2 July 1994) was a Cuban amateur boxer, who competed from 1986 to 1994. At the 1992 Summer Olympics he won a Gold medal in the men's super heavyweight (+91 kg).

A natural heavyweight, he was Olympic champion (Barcelona 1992), three times world champion (Moscow 1989, Sydney 1991, and Tampere 1993), and five times Cuban national champion. He was also the winner of the Val Barker Trophy for Outstanding Boxer at the 1992 Olympic Games.

Balado was at his prime, looking forward to win many forthcoming events, considered by some boxing experts to be the world's second-best fighter after Félix Savón (who competed one weight division below),^[1] and being one of the favourites of the 1995 Pan American Games and 1996 Olympics, but died in a car accident.

At the time of his death, age 25, he had 250 fights, with a record of 238 victories, and 12 losses.