What are the differences between the love of eight million Cubans and eight million dollars?
Teofilo Stevenson, Cuba's great, Olympic champion, replied each time he was asked why a fight with Muhammad Ali never happened in the 70s.
Cuban boxers were banned from cashing in on prize fights in 1962.
After taking power, Castro banned professional sports and focused the nation's athletes on amateur contests.
Pugilists were left with an impossible choice - stay home and box for a communist wage or leave their homeland and families in pursuit of mainstream glory.
Cuban boxers were allowed to compete professionally for the first time in six decades on 20 May in the city of Aguascalientes in Mexico, thanks to a show hosted by Golden Ring Promotions.
For many years the Golden Ring has studied the possibility of entering the professional rankings.
There must be a smooth transition. It is an exciting time for Cuban boxing and world boxing.
Cuban boxers won five of the six bouts at the inaugural event. Arlen Lopez beat Ben Whittaker at the Tokyo Olympics, while Roniel Iglesias beat Olympic champion Julio Cesar la Cruz.
There are pockets of scepticism surrounding the deal.
Why has the CFB changed its stance, and why is a Mexican organisation involved with the deal?
Saldivar has been a consultant to Cuban Boxing for the past three years.
Fighter, trainer and medical staff got a wage share for all the shows. It's hard to say if the deal will lead to more champions.
Kevin Hayler Brown is unwilling to wait. One of Cuba's top-rated amateur boxers left the island in March, believing the traditional voyage is the most likely route to professional success.
I did not sign that agreement. Brown said that he was out of Cuba with dreams of fighting in the US for a title.
The move could be seen as a vote of no-confidence in Golden Ring's plans, however the 28-year-old's frustrations seem steeped in having been let down in the past.
Brown said that his greatest fear was staying there and being forgotten.
If you want to improve yourself and your family, a decision must be made.
I would have to keep putting up with lies if I stayed. I was not going to waste my time on something uncertain.
Gary Hyde, the Irish promoter and manager, is hesitant to praise the arrangement.
I love the Cubans, but I am not sure they have the right people to guide them.
Hyde signed a number of exiled Cuban fighters in the mid-2000s, including possibly the country's greatest talent, Guillermo Rigondeaux.
The governing bodies are going to learn a lot from these Cubans.
It is not an issue lost on Saldivar, who is open to work with other promotional companies, confident his signings will have the quality to fight the best.
Hyde is worried about more than the organisational aspect of the deal. He believes that the island's fighters could be problematic for those who are turning pro at an advanced age.
When he did back in 2009, he was 29 and had been perfect for eight years.
There's no distraction back home in Cuba, everything is catered for, and they're all in the flow of life. The punches just come off during amateur bouts.
They lose their concentration when you bring them to the pros.
Rigondeaux would get to about the seventh and he would switch off. We had to wake him up halfway through the fight.
Most fighters who leave Cuba fail to achieve what they promised.
Brin-Jonathan Butler feels a unique context needs to be applied when comparing records to professionals from other nations.
Almost all Cubans arriving in the United States before they even step into a ring are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Cuba's answer toSophie's Choice is "It's Cuba". This could be the last time they see anyone from their homeland. To understand their psychology, you have to understand trauma.
If an agreement like the one with Golden Ring had been in place, Cubans might have made more of an impact on the pro ranks.
There is a lot of prejudice towards Cuban boxers. There is no consistency in the appraisal.
You could have had 13 years of Rigondeaux being perfect if he turned professional at 18. Mike Tyson was so vicious and ferocious that he was athletically gifted. You need someone like that to be a gateway for the world into Cuban fighters.
Time will tell if Brown made the right decision to leave Cuba or if Golden Ring can solve a complicated boxing dilemma.
One thing is certain. At a time when Cuba is in a state of disrepair, the nation's boxers have more hope.
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