Defected Cuban boxing star in Miami

GlobalPost

Boxer Ramon Luis has joined the exodus of Cuban sporting talent defecting to compete in the United States, according to a report in the Miami daily El Nuevo Herald on Monday.

The 21-year-old fighter abandoned his teammates on Friday at a pan-American championship in the Mexican city of Tijuana and made his way to Florida, it said, citing an unnamed source.

On Saturday, Cuban state television had confirmed the defection and condemned it as a "despicable act."

Luis' defection follows that of Cuban boxer Marcos Forestal, who fled his team during a World Series stop in the United States on April 12.

Defections from Cuban sports teams are still relatively common despite President Raul Castro's communist government recently increasing the wages paid to athletes and coaches.

In the past decade several Cuban boxing champions -- including Guillermo Rigondeaux, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solis and Erislandy Lara -- have left to their professional careers elsewhere.