That Mexican representatives stand out in boxing is not new. Throughout the long and rich history that accompanies the discipline, the names of those born in Aztec territory are at the top. Currently there is no exception; On the contrary, today the flag of that nation again has the best records of the year, with at least three division champions in the main sports organizations.
With an action that separates them from the rest in the region due to their resistance in the ring, Mexican fighters have earned the respect of their rivals in the US arenas, the main venues where the greatest and most remembered champions of the world have been forged. boxing.
Thanks to a balance between agility and punch, the Aztecs also boast an enviable physique that makes them endure each assault with the gallantry of a warrior. There is no one like them anywhere else on the planet.
The man to follow
If Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez is described as one of the best athletes of today, it would not be exaggerated. The current super middleweight champion of the World Boxing Association, Organization and Confederation is considered the best pound for pound in the discipline today.
And is not for less.
Álvarez has known how to grow in silence under the strictest regimes to be what he is today. He is not the typical boxer from his country who grows both in blows and in words and that to a certain extent took him away from the local fan base; however, with each triumph and performance, “Canelo” was putting his own in his pocket. There is no longer anyone who doubts him.
In 59 professional fights, Álvarez has a record of 56 wins (38 via knockout), two draws and only one fall against undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013.
Over time, the super middleweight champion has been physically training to face different challenges. It all started when he was just 15 years old, an unconventional span of life to start fighting the greats; However, if anyone has had the quality to improve from an early age, it has been him.
Everything seems to indicate that he will settle permanently between middleweight and super middleweight after a slight internship for the light heavyweight that is reduced to just one fight in 2019.
Unbeaten
At 30 years old and with the same number of faces, Oscar Valdez is a fighter to be feared in his category. Unlike other boxers who seek to navigate different divisions and try to find a place, the native of Sonora is the main obstacle of the super featherweight.
In the World Boxing Organization, Valdez is the owner of the featherweight belt, while in the Organization he is the boss of the super featherweight.
Light as the categories warrant, the speed of the athlete’s feet and hands has been impossible to stop by his rivals, who do not know what it is to see him yield. Those 30 fights have seen him win and only seven of them have made it to the end.
His powerful punch recalls the best stage of the Nicaraguan Román González, but with the strength of the Aztec gene on the ring.
Precisely Valdez appears as a kind of pupil of Álvarez, who was present on September 10 in Tucson (Arizona), where the fight against Robson Conceicao was generated, a duel that was resolved with a unanimous decision of the still undefeated.
After the fight, “Canelo” continued advising Valdez, from whom he asked for more exchanges. Despite the distances and the impact that one or the other has on sports, the country is always there to bring its own closer, even when advice should be given.
From less to more
Much younger (26 years old) and doing his thing for featherweight appears Emanuel Navarrete, a native of Mexico City and that only in his sixth fight in the professional was he sold. In total there are 35 fights for him, who has taken the other 34, 29 on the fast track.
Navarrete rose to fame three years ago, when, without being a favorite, he beat Isaac Dogboe. The rematch, to which he arrived with the pressure of showing that what he achieved was not the product of chance, put him back at the top, showing that his was real and reliable.
Owner of the featherweight belt in the World Boxing Organization, his actions have allowed him to break through with integrity and confidence. After being a guy who lived in the background and who even arrived without emerging as a world champion, today he is wanted to put his own champion belt on the line.
The old guard
In addition to the names already mentioned and that mark the present and future of the Aztec country within boxing, the recent past has in its memory the memory of two athletes who did their thing long enough to transcend and become among the greatest ever seen. .
One of them is Juan Manuel Márquez, winner 56 times out of a total of 64 fights disputed between 1993 and 2014. Although his first fight saw him lose, that was not the true reflection of what the man from Iztacalco was capable of doing.
Powerful but fast. Small but with scope, “Dinamita” Márquez had not earned his nickname by chance. Few can boast of such explosive hands as he, and what better way to show than the resounding knockout of Filipino Manny Pacquiao in 2012.
It was precisely against the Asian with whom he lived one of the greatest rivalries ever seen and charged with controversy. There were four fights against “Pac-Man”, of which he came out with a record of a win, a draw and two falls.
Marquez made history by being only the fourth boxer in his country to win the title in three different categories, showing that he was capable of adapting without major setbacks and succeeding brilliantly.
The second, Óscar de la Hoya. In a discipline marked by blows, de la Hoya was recognized for his smile, as his face was difficult to impact. His defense, a delight. His impacts, the norm in his way of fighting.
Boxing’s “Golden Boy” drew enough attention to be the one who always took the biggest bag in negotiations in every fight, except when he had to measure himself at the table of Mayweather Jr., a money-making machine still in the game. retirement.
The quality of de la Hoya was great enough to see him be crowned in six different categories, something that only Pacquiao surpassed. His first steps advanced everything this boy could achieve, as in 1992 he took home the gold medal at the Olympic Games. Thus began the professional career of one of the most successful and followed types.
In 45 fights at the pro, his 39-win-to-six-loss mark put him on the highest. Without a doubt, one of the most important men inside and outside the ensogado for his media power. He never moved away from the discipline and today he is one of the main promoters of his sport.
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