Four hundred pound Gilberto de la Torre will compete in the 12-man, open weight tournament at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Six-foot-three, 400-pound Gilberto “El Coloso Aztec” De La Torre of Los Angeles, Calif. has found his way into the one-night, 12-man, open weight tournament that World Elite Sumo will host at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 26.
To date, De La Torre, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico and is the child of immigrant parents from the Mexican city of Jalisco, has been competing in the sport’s amateur circuit, with stops in several U.S. cities as well as in Japan, Saudi Arabia and Poland.
De La Torre has also been a member of the U.S. national amateur sumo team, which competes annually at the sumo ‘world games’ showdown.
The 36-year-old is not the only member of his family competing in the ancient Japanese sport, either. Two of his six siblings – a 29-year-old brother, Angel, and a sister – also train and fight.
De La Torre, along with Puerto Rican fighter, Josh “The Ox” Ortiz of The Bronx, N.Y. and Polynesian American professional wrestler, “Juicy Finau”, were the final three athletes selected to participate in World Elite Sumo’s one-night tournament.
The other World Elite Sumo tournament participants include Egyptian sumo star Abdelrahman “Sandstorm” Shalan; number one-ranked Power Slap super heavyweight star and former amateur sumo champion, Makini “Big Mak” Manu; three-time African national freestyle wrestling champion Ahmed Khalil of Egypt; Japanese powerhouse Hidenoumi “The Iron Wall” Takuya; six-hundred-pound American sumo Mathew Westwood; Polynesian American martial artist and pro wrestler, Josh “Siua” Tuitupou; former Japanese sumo champion Asahisho Kota; Brazilian sumo star “Rui Junior”; and seasoned Russian technician Soslan “Big Bear” Gagloev.
All World Elite Sumo tournament matches will be contested in a best-of-three format, increasing competitive stakes and maintaining a rapid, exciting pace of action.
The tournament brackets have not been announced yet.
Priced from $50, tickets for the World Elite Sumo event are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
Doors for the World Elite Sumo event at Kaiser Permanente Arena will open at 6:00 p.m. local time on September 26, and the event will begin at 7:00 p.m.
