'We're going to set fire to the Eiffel Tower': Olympic boxer Reyes Pla causes major controversy

After his controversial jibes regarding the strength of Spanish boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Enmanuel Reyes Pla – a Spanish fighter of Cuban origin – has had to settle for bronze in the competition.

Reyes Pla's first challenge in the Olympic Games was the Chinese Han Xuezhen. As Spanish news site Infobae reported, the judges favoured the Spaniard 4 to 1.

In the quarterfinals, the Spaniard's opponent was the Belgian Victor Schelstraete, from whom he achieved a crushing victory 5 to 0. With that, Reyes Pla went to the semifinal with the bronze already secured.

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However, before his decisive fight against the Azerbaijani Loren Alfonso, also of Cuban origin, the Spaniard made headlines in the sports press. Feeling confident about his chances, Reyes Pla stated that the Spanish were going to "destroy all of France", in addition to threatening the Eiffel Tower and even Napoleon, according to La Razón.

"Here in Paris we are going to set fire to the Eiffel Tower and we are going to raise Napoleon from the grave to say that here we are. Either the medal table goes up or we destroy all of France," the boxer said laughing.

This is not the first time that Reyes Pla has generated controversy for his statements. At Tokyo 2020 (which was held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the boxer caused a stir by stating, as Infobae reported: "I have come to tear off heads." He said it after winning by KO.

Reyes Pla was very confident in his performance. According to the Spanish news site La Razón, he was certain he was coming for a medal. "I am in optimal condition and my rivals are worried. I knew I was going to enjoy myself, have a good time and I was going to hit whoever was in front of me," he said.

But he did not manage to win the gold medal... or the silver for that matter. Reyes Pla fell in the semifinals to Loren Alfonso by 4 to 1, according to the judges' decision, and could not reach the final of the individual boxing -92 kg.

The first three minutes were balanced, but three of the five judges gave the victory to the Azerbaijani. In the second round, although Reyes Pla improved his punches, the judges decided 4 to 1 in favor of Alfonso. The third period belonged to his opponent. "Loren Berto wanted to make him desperate and he made him desperate," said Rafael Lozano, the Spanish coach, according to El País.

The defeat did not leave a good taste in the Spaniard's mouth, who disagreed with the judges: "I'm happy because I have an Olympic medal. I wanted to change the color, but the referees didn't let me. Let's move on. I wanted the gold, but I gave everything above the ring. I saw myself better than my opponent, but the referees are the ones who decide," he told the Spanish sports site Sport.

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