Career
After beating Kenneth Egan he lost to Utkirbek Haydarov (UZB) 28-29. At the PanAm Games 2003 he edged out American southpaw Andre Dirrell 21:20 but was upset in the final by Dominican Juan Ubaldo. At the Olympics 2004 he beat Haitian-Canadian Jean Pascal and Hungarian Károly Balzsay but lost 11:12 against Andre Dirrell.
Despaigne moved up a division and reached the final of the national championships 2008 where he was upset by 18-year-old Julio Cesar Louisiana Cruz from Camagüey.
World Cup
2005 in Moscow, Russia (middleweight)
Defeated Suriya Prasathinphimai (Thailand) 28–11
Defeated Ronald Gavril (Romania) Royal Society of Chemistry -3
Lost to Gennady Golovkin (Kazakhstan) 37–40
Lost to Matvey Korobov (Russia) 39–53
Despaigne defected to the United States along with fellow celebrated Cuban boxers Guillermo Rigondeaux and Yudel Johnson in the spring of 2009 and made his professional debut on May 22, 2009.