Havana, October 31 (JIT) -- Cuba included five fighters in the final of the V Cologne Boxing World Cup 2023, in Germany, which concludes this Tuesday.

Thus, the island surpassed the number of finalists of the 2022 edition, when it enjoyed two gold medals and one silver.

Cienfuegos native Erislandy Álvarez (63 kg), the most experienced of the quintet, led his teammates Jorge Soto (80 kg), Rolando Martínez (57 kg), Nelson Williams (92 kg) and Giovis Salfrán (51 kg).

Alvarez, silver medalist at the world championship in Tashkent 2023, showed a 5-0 superiority against host Assan Hansen. Salfran was better (5-0) than Mongolia's Aldarkhichig Battulga and Williams better than Australia's Ikenna Enyi (5-0). 

Martinez imitated them, when he defeated Kharkhuu Bilguunsaikhan of Mongolia by unanimous decision of the judges, in a fight that closed the Cuban performance this day at the event hall of the Maritim Hotel Cologne, with capacity for more than a thousand people.  

"Soto did not need to step into the ring today, as he guaranteed his presence in the final due to the fact that his opponent, German Delil Dadaev, did not pass the medical examination," head of the delegation and trainer Robinson Poll confirmed to JIT.

The other fighters in the delegation, Adonis Bell (+92 kg), Karen Cantillo (54 kg), Melani de la Caridad Girado (57 kg) and Juliannet Diaz (60 kg) lost in the preliminaries and are watching the bulls from the sidelines.

In the 2022 edition, Cuba won gold medals with Lázaro Álvarez Estrada (63.5 kg) and Yoenli Hernández (75 kg), and silver with Rafael Joubert Simón (60 kg). It placed second in the men's competition, behind Germany.