LThe Lozano saga is inexhaustible. Rafa Lozano Jr. qualified for the 2024 Paris Games after winning on points at norcoreano Chon Ryon So in it Bangkok Pre-Olympics and took the step he needed, reaching the semi-finals, to reach the Paris event.
The boxer 19 year old from Cordobaa bet from the Spanish Federation, did not disappoint when push came to shove. The Balinwho had had very good feelings in the Belgrade European (bronze in the flyweight, -51kg), won the four fights he needed to get the Olympic ticket.
The emotion overflowed at the end for Lozano, who burst into tears when he was proclaimed the winner by unanimous decision. He hugged his father, Rafa Lozano, and together they celebrated the brilliant classification. The dream was fulfilled.
Rafa had sent So to the canvas twiceone in the first round and another in the second, so his victory was incontestable.
The good work of the Spanish boxers in this Pre-Olympic was completed by the super heavyweight Ayoub Ghadfa (+92 kilos), who won by split decision (4-1) against the Austrian Ahmed Hagag.
The 25-year-old from Marbella and Moroccan parents, European gold this year in Belgrade and world bronze in 2023 in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), he managed the timing of the fight very well to impose his best technique.
Spain makes history
At the end of the fight, there was a long and emotional hug between both fighters in which Ghadfa consoled his rival, who in turn recognized his adversary’s superiority. The two Andalusian boxers join Oier Ibarretxein 63.50 kilos; Jose Quilesat 57 kilos and who was already in Tokyo 2020; Emanuel Reyes Planat 92 kilos and who achieved his place in the previous Busto Arsizio Pre-Olympic, and Laura Fernandezat 50 kilos, the first Spanish boxer to qualify for the Games.
Spain, which had already competed with four boxers in Tokyo 2020, where he fell short of the medals due to several controversial decisions, he thus classifies six boxers, a historic figure and more than respectable since only 11 countries have entered more boxers in these Games.
