Introduction
Osmay Acosta Méndez Duarte (born April 3, 1985) is a Cuban amateur boxer, who competed between 2001 and 2010, best known to win the 2007 PanAm Games at Heavyweight with 201 lbs (91 kg) limit.
Career
Acosta is a 1,85 m tall fighter, a southpaw, who won the 165 lbs world cadet championships 2001 vs Zaur Teymurov and became the junior world champion at 75 kg/165 lbs in 2002 in Santiago de Cuba beating Russian Nikolai Galacki 10:9, Uzbek Alisher Matniazov KO, and Kazack Dmitriy Gotfrid in the final 14:8.
At senior level he first struggled badly, in 2005 he was dqd at the nationals at 178 lbs.
At the national senior championships ("Playa Girón") 2006 he was beaten inside the distance by Odlanier Solis in an attempt to compete at super heavyweight so he dropped down to 201 lbs where he won the 2006 Central American Games.
He was part of the Cuban team that won the 2006 Boxing World Cup.
He became national champion at 201 lbs vs. Ismaikel Perez in 2007 and defeated southpaw Adam Willett 22:3 in the PanAm qualifyer. He won the 2007 PanAm games stopping local favourite Rafael Lima in the semifinals and easily beating Jose Julio Payares of Venezuela 11:3 (including a knockdown) in the finals.
At the Nations Cup he beat Alexander Povernov 14:8, at the Ahmet Comert Cup 2007 he defeated European Champion Denis Poyatsika. He would have been one of the top favorites at the world championships 2007 but Cuba didn't participate.
Acosta was undefeated for more than a year then was upset at the 2008 Strandzha Cup by an unknown Scotsman Stevie Simmons and struggled at the National Championships.
He qualified for Beijing by winning the first Olympic qualifier by beating fellow-qualifier Deontay Wilder in the final. At the Olympics he lost to the eventual Russian winner Chakhkeiv.
At the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships he defeated John M'Bumba but lost the final to fellow southpaw Egor Mekhontsev and won silver.