El Coloso Aztec
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Gilberto “El Coloso Aztec” De La Torre makes combat sports history today, September 26, as the first Mexican-American sumo wrestler to compete at the elite international level. He steps into the ring tonight for World Elite Sumo, an open-weight tournament bringing twelve heavyweights to the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California.
Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 400 pounds, the 36-year-old Los Angeles native has earned his shot at the majors. The dual-citizen son of immigrants from Jalisco, Mexico, De La Torre built an impressive amateur resume with bouts in Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Poland, alongside serving as an anchor for the US national team at the annual World Games.
Sumo is also a family affair for the De La Torres. Out of Gilberto’s six siblings, his 29-year-old brother Ángel and one of his sisters actively train and compete in the ancient Japanese sport.
An Unprecedented Tournament Tonight’s one-night, open-weight event uses a best-of-three format for every matchup, keeping the pace relentless. While the official pairings won’t be revealed until the opening bell, the 12-man roster is stacked.
De La Torre, Bronx native Josh “The Ox” Ortiz, and Polynesian-American pro wrestler “Juicy Finau” were the final three athletes added to a bracket featuring some of the sport’s biggest international names:
- Abdelrahman “Sandstorm” Shalan (Egyptian star)
- Mathew Westwood (USA, weighing in at a massive 600 pounds)
- Hidenoumi “The Iron Wall” Takuya (Japan)
- Makini “Big Mak” Manu (Former amateur champion and current Power Slap standout)
- Ahmed Khalil (Three-time African national wrestling champion, Egypt)
- Asahisho Kota (Former Japanese sumo champion)
- Soslan “Big Bear” Gagloev (Russia)
- “Rui Junior” (Brazil)
- Josh “Siua” Tuitupou (Polynesian-American)
Event Details
- When: TODAY, September 26
- Time: Doors open at 6:00 PM local time; bouts start promptly at 7:00 PM
- Where: Kaiser Permanente Arena, Santa Cruz, California
- Tickets: Last-minute seats available starting at $50 on Ticketmaster.com
