Spain could be among the top nations in the Paris Olympics

Spain made a history with their six quota places for the Paris Olympics in boxing which is their best performance in the recent three decades.  

The Spanish boxers attended first in the boxing tournament of the 1924 Olympic Games which took place in Paris and their boxers can return to the same venue after 100 years. The Spanish athletes competed in 17 editions of the Olympic Games in boxing between 1924 and 2021.

Their boxing team achieved two silver and two bronze medals in the history of the Olympic Games since 1972.

Their first Olympic boxing medal was taken by Enrique Rodriguez in 1972 which was a bronze at the light flyweight. Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympic Games which delivered a silver medal for Spain, their 17-year-old Faustino Reyes advanced to the final.

Spain’s lone two-time Olympic medallist was Rafael Lozano Munoz who claimed silver and bronze during his boxing career and he is the head coach now. He was quarter-finalist at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, bronze medallist in Atlanta four years later and his highest achievement was a silver at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Spain has qualified two boxers through the European Games, Laura Fuertes (women’s 50kg) and Jose Quiles (men’s 57kg) on July 2023.

The President of the Royal Spanish Boxing Federation, Mr. Felipe Martinez planned 3-4 quotas for the Paris Olympics before the qualification events but the team exceeded that with record-breaking six spots.

The European Champion Martin Molina was replaced by a new sensation, Rafael Lozano Serrano and he earned a spot for Spain at the men’s flyweight (51kg). Another youngster, Oier Ibarreche (63.5kg) amazed all of the experts in Bangkok and he also qualified for the Olympics.

The World Championships bronze medallist, and Tokyo Olympics quarter-finalist, Emmanuel Reyes (92kg) is a medal contender in his category.

The reigning European Champions at the super heavyweight (+92kg), the powerful Ayoub Ghadfa Drissi El Aissaoui is another medal prospect in Paris.