Cuba boxing coup a boost for Wu Ching-kuo's IOC presidency bid

Taiwan's International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidential candidate Wu Ching-kuo believes Cuba's historic first professional boxing bout in more than 50 years proves yet again to IOC members that he can deliver.

The 66-year-old president of the International Boxing Association (Aiba) is one of six men vying to succeed retiring IOC president Jacques Rogge at the election next week in Buenos Aires.

And he said he was proud to have been the facilitator of engineering the Cuban return to the professional boxing circuit.

That moment arrived when they took on Mexico last week under the Aiba's mantle of the World Series of Boxing (WSB).

Cuban boxers have dominated amateur boxing at Olympic and world championships - producing legends such as the late Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon. But they have been barred from competing professionally since Fidel Castro took power in 1959.

However, Wu - who set up the WSB to halt the leading amateur boxers from turning wholly professional after Olympic Games allowing them to earn money but be eligible to still compete at amateur championships - persisted in his goal of persuading them to compete in what are five-round bouts as opposed to the three at amateur level.

They proved that was no hindrance to their abilities over the shorter bouts and fighting under the team name of the Domadores (Tamers) they whipped the Mexican Guerreros 7-3.