NEW YORK, July 28: Cuban sporting heroism and humiliation were on worldwide display here at the Goodwill Games with boxing legend Felix Savon winning and cyclist Ivan Dominguez defecting.Savon showed the form that has made made him a four-time World and two-time Olympic heavyweight champion, stopping Russia's Dmitri Gerasimov 28 seconds into the fifth round of their quarter-final bout.Another Cuban boxer, 1997 World bantamweight runner-up Waldemar Font, saw his defector brother Eddie yesterday for the first time in three years after he won a quarter-final bout.Dominguez disappeared from the Cuban delegation and apparently defected in what has become a commonplace escape route for sportsmen who want to leave their economically troubled communist homeland.Dominguez walked away from his hotel room on Sunday. His US visa expires in one week, US State Department and Immigration and Naturalisation Service officials said he had not contacted them.``This is now a matter for law enforcement agencies tohandle,'' a Games statement said. ``Should he surface, the appropriate authorities will assume jurisdiction.''In 1993, 43 Cuban athletes defected from a Caribbean multi-sport event in Puerto Rico. Two Cuban swimmers defected in Puerto Rico earlier this year while training for this event.Many recent Cuban defections have been by baseball players who later sign rich contracts with the US teams, notably pitcher Rolando Arrojo before the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Cuban defector Livan Hernandez was the most valuable player in the World Series pitching for the 1997 champion - Florida Marlins. His older brother Orlando throws for 1998's winningest team, the New York Yankes.While Dominguez cannot expect riches in cycling, Savon could make a fortune in the professional realm. But he dislikes pro rules and will not leave his homeland.Savon excited the boxing arena without comment yesterday but on Sunday said of defectors, ``I love my country. What they do, that's their business.''World lightweight champion,Aleksandr Maletin of Russia stopped Mongolian Turnentsetseg Uitumen 1 minute, 44 seconds into the second round of their quarter-final, a rematch of last year's 60kg World Championship final.``He is a strong boxer but he was not as ready here as was at the Worlds,'' Maletin said.World bantamweight champion - Raimkul Malakhbekov of Russia was edged 5-4 by Uzbekistan's Timur Tulyakov. Also at 54kg, Font beat Russian Maikhail Anazhin, 12-3.Reigning Olympic 75kg champion, Ariel Hernandez of Cuba stopped Russian Denis Inkin with an injury at the start of round three while 1997 World bronze medalist, Jean-Paul Mendy of France stopped American Randy Griffin at the end of round two.Reigning World and Olympic 48kg champion Maikro Romero of Cuba ousted American Brian Viloria, 11-3 and Roel Velasco, the 1997 World light flyweight runner-up from the Philippines, beat American Jose Navarro, 9-2.
