Documented path
Stevenson was born in Puerto Padre, Cuba, and began boxing at age nine under trainer John Herrera at a makeshift gym, following his father's brief boxing experience. His talent drew the attention of the Cuban state sports system, where he was trained by Soviet coach Andrei Chervonenko and Cuban coach Alcides Sagarra. He won his first Olympic gold at 20 in 1972.
Born in 1952 in Puerto Padre, Cuba; began boxing as a teenager under the Cuban amateur boxing system; father was a fisherman.
Died on June 11, 2012 at age 60 from a heart attack; final status: Cuban boxing legend and three-time Olympic gold medalist who never turned professional.
Where the conditions came from
Each is placed on a −1 to 3 scale from documented evidence, and the three are never added together. A combined total would rank Teofilo Stevenson against other people. Held apart, they explain why this path ran differently from another one—which is the only comparison this project supports.
The marble itself
+2Tailwind
What capability, drive, or early skill is documented in the person rather than their surroundings?
Began boxing at 9 under former national champion John Herrera, who said he 'had what it takes' even against far more experienced boxers. Won Olympic gold at 20. Exceptional physical power and natural boxing aptitude from a young age.
Where it was dropped
0Neither way
What money, family standing, network, or permission was already in place before the work began?
Father was an immigrant from Saint Vincent who boxed seven times before becoming disillusioned; mother was a seamstress. Humble family in Puerto Padre. Father's brief boxing background provided initial familiarity but no wealth or connections.
The shape of the track
+2Tailwind
What place, timing, institution, or peer group made the next step available?
Cuba's post-revolutionary state sports system identified and developed boxing talent through state academies. John Herrera, former national light heavyweight champion, was his mentor from age 9. The Cuban boxing pipeline was the world's elite amateur system.
A −1 is a documented headwind, not a missing value; a 0 means the sources record nothing notable either way. Annotation confidence: High. These are analyst readings of what the sources record, not measurements of merit, talent, or effort. The twenty-two scored dimensions remain available inside the deeper research detail.
What moved through the conditions
This records repeated behaviour or recovery described by sources; it is not a grit or merit score.
A successful-only archive cannot recover all encounters, avoided setbacks, or alternative outcomes.
Strongest documented signals: Elite institution pipeline, Dedicated mentor / coach, Parent / family domain.
Describes the starting position, not what the person later made of it.
Strongest observed levers: Domain proximity, Started serious reps before 20, Prior reps.
Measures what was present, not whether it was inherited, earned, self-built, external, or mixed.
The timeline below shows the sequence of work and transitions around the selected early milestone. It is evidence of a path, not proof that every step was necessary.
Legendary or globally iconic career standing. The tier summarizes documented career recognition through the data cutoff—not Teofilo Stevenson's worth or future potential.
Question four · where did the leverage come from?
Each non-zero lever gets a best-supported origin, evidence signals, and confidence. Unresolved is the honest default when the biography cannot distinguish self-built, advantage-enabled, earned, external, or mixed.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
One or more documented starting advantages plausibly enabled this lever.
A structural wave is external to the person, even when their position improved access to it.
This is a bounded inference from the current annotations—not a claim about private effort, merit, or the percentage of Teofilo Stevenson's outcome attributable to any origin.
Structural luck, Encounter luck, Event luck, Outcome variance can change every arrow in the path. This successful-only dataset cannot observe the near-identical paths that did not break through, so luck stays visible and unscored.
Multiplying capacity documented later in the path. Measures what was present, not whether it was inherited, earned, self-built, external, or mixed.
Access or conditions documented near the beginning of the path. Zero means "no clear evidence in reviewed sources," not "advantage was absent."
Son of Teofilo Stevenson Patterson, an immigrant from Saint Vincent who gave English lessons and boxed briefly, and Dolores Lawrence, a native Cuban whose parents were immigrants from Saint Kitts. The family had meager earnings.
His father boxed seven times before becoming disillusioned by the corrupt payment structure, and his father's involvement in boxing led young Teofilo to the sport.
Teofilo Stevenson began boxing at age nine in Puerto Padre, Cuba, under trainer John Herrera, following his father's brief boxing experience. His physical abilities drew the attention of the Cuban state sports system, where he was trained by Soviet coach Andrei Chervonenko and Cuban coach Alcides Sagarra. He won his first Olympic gold medal at the 1972 Munich Games at age 20, followed by World Championship gold in 1974 and a second Olympic gold in 1976 at age 24. He became one of only three boxers to win three Olympic gold medals.
advantage confidence: Medium · source count: 3 · audit: partial_source_verification · status: subagent_researched_beta