During boxing events at the Indiana Convention Center, anti-Castro Cuban-American protestors mocked the Cuban boxers from the stands.

The police were unable to stop the Cuban boxers from entering the stands and punching the protestors in retaliation.

According to witnesses, up to a dozen Cuban boxers, including Pablo Romero, as well as a hundred spectators were involved.

[1] After these incidents Manuel Gonzalez Guerra, who was Cuba's top sports official, publicly demanded that organizers keep the anti-Castro protestors away from the Cuban athletes.

Mark Miles, the president of the organizing committee, made a phone call to the Ronald Reagan administration in the White House, who subsequently pressed Cuban-American activists groups to dial down the pressure by the final week.