Back at home, Espinosa’s troubles only got worse. Unable to dedicate himself to boxing, the Cuban took a year out of the sport and stopped training entirely. He returned as a light-heavyweight in 1991, once again winning the national championship and Córdova Cardín in what would be his final victory over old adversary Orestes Solano, before suffering a ligament injury two weeks before the Pan-American Games. A spat with the Cuban boxing federation regarding his dedication followed, and Espinosa quit boxing once again in anger.

But when Cuba announced that they would compete at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Espinosa saw an opportunity to win the one title that he had coveted throughout his career. The only way for him to regain a place on the Cuban team was to win at the national championships, and Espinosa decided the week before the tournament that he wanted to try and earn the 81kg spot. Despite only a few days of training, he finished runner-up at the nationals after being well-beaten by Solano in the final and lost to him again at Córdova Cardín. Luckily for Espinosa, he had one last chance - the Cuban boxing federation set up a tournament to determine team selection for the Olympics. Espinosa advanced to the final, where he beat Solano’s conqueror Yosvany Vega to make the national team.

Although Espinosa finally appeared at the Olympics, his dream of gold was not meant to be. He was small for a light-heavyweight, often coming into the ring looking a whole weight class below his opponents. Due to this, the Cuban had sacrificed his vaunted power in favour of superior speed - an attribute that was never part of his style. Espinosa beat Mehmet Gurgen of Turkey & Roberto Castelli of Italy, both by stoppage, but fell short against Wojciech Bartnik of Poland in the quarter finals. It was an opponent that Espinosa later admitted he would have easily beat when at his best, but years of little to no training and alcohol abuse had caught up with him.

Espinosa knew that his time was up, and retired for good following his exit in Barcelona.

Espinosa’s style - namely the upright stance, bouncy footwork and dexterous lead hand - was indicative of the Soviet school that heavily influenced Cuban amateur boxing. His relative lack of hand-speed was compensated by a strong grasp of distance and timing, and Espinosa’s manipulation of rhythm was superb, often lulling opponents with a pawing jab before exploding into his southpaw left.

In the video below, note Espinosa’s level changes as he feints high with his lead hand before firing a sharp jab to William’s midsection. With the threat of a body attack established, Williams lowers his guard in response to Espinosa’s feints which creates opportunities for the Cuban to land upstairs. As Williams circles away from the power hand, Espinosa pivots to line up his lethal straight left and knocks the American down. Whilst the Williams fight doesn’t necessarily highlight this, Espinosa was also a prolific finisher. In his prime he remained patient and rarely smothered his punches, working the head & body and splitting an opponent’s high guard with his lead hand. Of course, Espinosa benefited from having terrifying power; knocking fighters out cold in the amateurs was somewhat rare, but the consistency with which Espinosa did so was practically unheard of.