HAVANA, Cuba.- Cuba said goodbye on Tuesday afternoon to boxing star Teofilo Stevenson, during his burial at the capital’s Colon Cemetery.

Stevenson, Olympic champion in Munich 1972, Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980, died on Monday in Havana as a result of a heart attack, at 60 years of age.

In the presence of relatives, friends, some of the country’s great sporting figures and people in general, Jose Ramon Fernandez, president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, recalled the dignity of this athlete, also a three-times world champion, who gave up millions of dollars just to enjoy the applause of his own.

Likewise, he added that he was always an unassuming man, who used to stop and talk to people and always had a smile for the millions of compatriots who admired him.

He loved his family profoundly and when he spoke about Commander in Chief Fidel Castro he referred to him as a father, said Fernandez.

For his part, Alberto Juantorena, two-times Olympic champion in Montreal 1976 and national athletics commissioner, told the press gathered at the Mausoleum of Sports that Stevenson’s example, dedication and modesty will always be present in all Cubans.

Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and President Raul Castro sent wreaths to the Calzada y K funeral parlor, where his mortal remains were honored.

Born on March 29, 1952, in the city of Puerto Padre, eastern Las Tunas province, he won 301 of the 321 fights in which he participated during his 20 years as a boxer.