HAVANA (AP):

Two Cuban boxers who went missing during the Pan American Games in Brazil say they ate and drank excessively before a weigh-in and decided to run off because of fears they were too heavy to fight.

Guillermo Rigondeaux, a two-time Olympic bantamweight champion, and Erislandy Lara, a welterweight world champion, disappeared for 11 days, but were arrested in a resort city near Rio de Janeiro, where authorities say they had partied. The pair was deported to Cuba on Sunday.

In an interview with the Communist Party newspaper Granma published yesterday, Rigondeaux and Lara said they never intended to defect and denied reports they signed contracts with German promoters while missing.

They also maintained they never sought asylum in Brazil as political refugees, and said they asked to return to Cuba.

Spent night drinking

The fighters said they went shopping the night before their July 22 weigh-ins and were "intercepted" by a Cuban and another man who offered them drinks in a taxi. They declined, but later met the Cuban and others at a bar.

They said the group might have gained access to the Pan American Games athletic villa posing as journalists.

The two spent a long night drinking with the men, then decided not to show up for the weigh-in and instead went off with their new acquaintances, Rigondeaux said.

"We were fighting the next day and we were afraid to return to the villa because we had eaten and we were afraid of losing because of weight, which in boxing is such a grave penalty that we went with them," Rigondeaux said.

The pair said that after several days, they decided to return to Cuba on their own and sneaked away from those around them to call Brazilian police.

Finished with national team

They insisted they rejected numerous offers by Brazilian authorities to apply for political asylum. Brazilian lawmakers plan to investigate their deportation to ensure the boxers were not sent back to Cuba against their will.

Upon returning to the island, Rigondeaux and Lara spent more than two days in government guests houses.

Rigondeaux was then released to his apartment in Havana, while Lara travelled to his hometown in the eastern province of Guantanamo.

Fidel Castro said the pair was finished with Cuba's national team and that officials were considering pulling out of the boxing world championships in Chicago in October to prevent defections.