He put things right and took the 5-0 win to advance to the quarter-finals.
Arlen Lopez knows what it’s like to win it all as a boxer, but he wants to win his third Olympic Games crown and has worked hard to achieve that goal, overcoming more than a few moments of uncertainty.
That is why he has focused entirely on preparing for the five-ring event in the French capital, where he made his debut on Tuesday, beating Turkey’s Kaan Aykutsun, who had made a successful debut against Italy’s Salvatore Cavallaro, universal third in 2021.
The 5-0 decision announced at the North Paris Arena fairly rewarded the work of the star, who is trying to win the 80kg sash after winning the 75kg and 81kg sashes at Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020, respectively.
Although the first bout always poses punctual demands and three judges saw the European winning in the opening round, Arlen put things in order and took unanimous decisions in the following ones, to leave no other option than the 5-0 with which he advanced to the quarter-finals.
«We studied his previous fight well, and we dedicated yesterday’s training to the actions we would use to achieve our goal,» said the Caribbean, who admitted to having been surprised by the officials’ vote in the first round.
«The important thing is that we came here with a hundred percent preparation, and that allows us to respond to situations like that, with enough resources to clear doubts,» added the Guantanamo fighter after giving himself a very convincing closing.
With his guard mostly on the right, he cut off Aykutsun from the middle segment and hit with clarity to leave him without answers, even passing over the discomfort caused by what appeared to be some irritant substance applied to his gloves.
His next appearance will be on Friday, for the bronze medal, as he faces Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev, the 2022 world junior champion and Asian Games bronze medallist.
This Wednesday, it will be the turn of Saidel Horta (57 kg) to complete the first appearances of the island’s armada, as opponent of Munarbek Selitbek, from Kyrgyzstan.
