Rafael Lozano made history this Sunday by qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games. The boxer from Cordoba defeated the North Korean Chon Ryon So in the quarterfinals of the Bangkok Pre-Olympic Tournament (Thailand) in the category under 51 kilos, earning the long-awaited Olympic ticket.
So Lozano followed in the footsteps of his father, Rafael ‘Balita’ Lozanowho won a bronze medal in the Atlanta 96 Games and a silver medal in Sydney 2000.
The man from Cordoba is confident in three rounds and he landed the blows that gave him a clear victory that made him the fifth Spaniard to qualify.
He joins Oier Ibarretxe, at 63.50, José Quiles, at 57 kilos, who is already in Tokyo 2020, Emanuel Reyes Pla, at 92who achieved his place in the previous Busto Arsizio Pre-Olympic, and Laura Fernández, at 50 kilos, the first Spanish boxer to achieve the classification.
In the previous qualifiers, Lozano defeated Luis Delgado, from Ecuador, Mehron Shafiev, from Tajikistan, and in his debut, the Filipino Rogen Ladon with a result of 4-1
Rafael Lozano, after a first year marked by a biceps injury, In his second elite season he made great strides and at the European Championship he won bronze.
Source: La Verdad
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