Originally from Cuba, naturalized Azerbaijani boxer Lorenzo Sotomayor told
Sputnik Azerbaijan
that he will not be competing in the upcoming Islamic Solidarity Games that will be held in Baku between May 12 – 22.
“Unfortunately, I will not be able to participate in the upcoming competitions. Currently my weight is 68 kilograms. I do not want to lose weight on four kilograms for a few days and thus weakly perform at the competitions”, he said.
According to the article, Sotomayor is now prepare for the upcoming European and world championships.
Born in the Cuban capital of Havana, Lorenzo Sotomayor moved to Baku in 2013 when he took the Azerbaijani citizenship.
“A coach from Azerbaijan called me and that’s how it all started. I moved here and now every single day I thank God, because of it. I am enjoying my time here, even though I am not a local, I have lots of friends here. The people are fantastic”, he told the
Association Internationale De La Presse Sportive
.
Sotomayor won gold in the 2015 European Games held in Baku, whereas he won silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics games. Sotomayor was the first boxer competing for Azerbaijan to reach the final of the
Olympics games
.
The boxer adopted the name
Collazo
during the 2015 European Games. It means “shining star”.
Sotomayor is not the first Olympics athlete of his family. His cousin, Javier Sotomayor, won high-jump gold at Barcelona
1992
.
