Super featherweight Barthelemy keeps Cuba in prayers

It has been eight years since Rances Barthelemy left his native Cuba. And as the former super featherweight champion looks to remain in boxing’s upper echelon, his thoughts drift to a reunion with his family and friends.

Barthelemy (22-0, 13 knockouts) faces veteran Antonio DeMarco at 1 p.m. today at the MGM Grand Garden in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions on CBS. While his family and friends in Cuba might find a way to watch the fight on TV, Barthelemy’s hope is to return to his birthplace in the near future and fight before his loved ones.

“I pray to God every day that Cuba and the United States will make peace,” Barthelemy said through an interpreter. “I’m anxious to go back to my country. It has been eight years.”

Barthelemy, 28, is in his second stint of living in Las Vegas. He was in Miami after finally leaving Cuba after 37 unsuccessful attempts to gain freedom from Fidel Castro’s regime. Many of those failed attempts landed him in rat-infested prisons, which only fueled his desire to escape for a better life in the U.S.

He moved to Las Vegas in 2011, returned to Miami a year later, then came back to Southern Nevada in 2013.

“Las Vegas is the capital of boxing, and being in Las Vegas, I could focus better and I have no distractions like I have in Miami,” Barthelemy said. “I’m very comfortable and relaxed here. Nobody bothers me. I have peace in my life.”

When Barthelemy fought at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in 2011, he was asked about the hard life he lived in Cuba. He was reluctant to engage in conversation on the subject, saying he was a sportsman, not a politician.

But as the Obama administration takes steps to normalize relations with Cuba, Barthelemy is less guarded in discussing a future he hopes ultimately will allow all Cubans to come and go as they please.

“I have learned what freedom is like, and freedom is wonderful,” he said. “I want everyone in my country to be able to have the same normal life that I have and be together with our families.”

While most dads will enjoy Father’s Day with their families, Barthelemy will be working.

“My father, Emilio Barthelemy, got us into boxing, and when I left Cuba, it was very difficult for me because me and my dad were very close,” he said. “I remember when we were little, me and my brothers would take my father out to breakfast on Father’s Day. It was very special, and we all enjoyed the moment.”

A win over DeMarco (31-4-1, 23 KOs) on national TV would make a nice Father’s Day present. DeMarco is coming off a 12-round loss by unanimous decision to Jessie Vargas on Nov. 23 in Macau, as the Las Vegan successfully defended his World Boxing Association junior welterweight title.

“I have great respect for DeMarco,” Barthelemy said. “He is a former world champion. But he has never fought someone like me. My trainer, Ismael Salas, has a good game plan for DeMarco, and we’ll be ready for him.”

Barthelemy skipped 135 pounds in going from 130 to 140 and said he doesn’t second-guess the decision. He and DeMarco each weighed in Saturday at 139½.

“I feel much stronger (at 140),” Barthelemy said. “I used to have to cut a lot of weight to get to 130, and it took a lot out of me. But I want to go where the big fights are. That’s while I jumped past 135.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.