President Claudia Sheinbaum led a historic National Boxing Class in Mexico City’s Zócalo square on Sunday, drawing a reported 42,000 participants in the capital alone, with a nationwide attendance of about 500,000, according to the president’s social media.
Beginning at 9 a.m., the event was held simultaneously in public squares in every Mexican state, such as Plaza del Ángel in the city of Chihuahua, where more than 10,000 people participated, and Plaza Mayor in Torreón, Coahuila, where the turnout was 1,500.
In 2022, the same mass boxing class set a Guinness World Record with 14,000 attendees in Mexico City, only to be more than doubled the next year.
The event was not held in 2024, and this year, officials opted to not seek Guinness recertification as the largest boxing class in the world.
According to a press release, the event was part of Mexico’s National Security Strategy, a framework introduced in 2019 during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
One of its tenets is “Attention to Causes,” which aims to reduce crime, violence, recruitment into cartels and other social ills by various means — one of which is providing opportunities for young people.
The mass class thus served to promote increased youth participation in community sports, including boxing. It was organized with the support of the Mexico-based World Boxing Council (WBC).
The event at the Zócalo, which was beamed to other sites, featured legendary boxing figures such as Julio César Chávez, Roberto Durán, Óscar de la Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera and Mariana “La Barbie” Juárez.
They shared their passion for the sport with young people from all over Mexico, and with prisoners, too, as the event was held in prisons, as well.
A ponytailed Sheinbaum, wearing a white “National Boxing Class” T-shirt, emphasized sport as a tool for social transformation.
“Young Mexicans say: No to violence, no to addiction,” she said. “The people of Mexico say: Yes to education, yes to sports, yes to peace, yes to love.”
Held on the International Day of Sport for Peace, the class included 45 minutes of drills led by the aforementioned boxers.
Mexican Mauricio Sulaimán, the WBC president, was on the stage as well, where he proclaimed, “Being in Mexico City’s Zócalo is an honor … Seeing that we’re all making history together is something that moves me greatly.”
Boxing’s current top star, Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, was not present, but he did help Sheinbaum promote the event. The Guadalajara native is training for his upcoming May 3 bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia against William Scull for the world’s undisputed super middleweight title. (In February, Álvarez signed a four-fight deal with Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season.)
In Chihuahua, participants trained with WBC female super-bantamweight champion Yamileth Mercado, while other states hosted sessions led by local stars, such as former world champion and current Chamber of Deputies Representative Erik Morales in Tijuana and World Boxing Hall of Fame member José “Pipino” Cuevas in Hidalgo.
The federal government’s “Stay Away from Drugs. Fentanyl Kills You” campaign played on screens during workouts, aligning with Sheinbaum’s strategy to address crime and addiction through sports programs in high-risk cities like León and Ciudad Juárez.
Attendees received white wristbands symbolizing the global #WhiteCard movement — encouraging people to unite through sports — and Sheinbaum signed a “Belt of Peace.” The WBC presented her with a golden glove, honoring Mexico’s boxing legacy as a “nation of champions.”
With reports from Milenio, Excélsior, WBC and El Diario de Chihuahua
