In a competitive field, boxing could make a strong claim to the status of Mexico’s proudest cultural export. The sport may not actually originate here but it has enjoyed a place of social and sporting consequence since arriving in the early 20th century. It has been adopted and adapted with such fervor, that the unique “Mexican style” of fighting and many of its practitioners are revered across the globe.
Fighters like Rubén ‘El Púas’ Olivares, Salvador Sánchez and Julio César Chávez have enchanted generations of fans worldwide. These men have jabbed, slipped and often bludgeoned their way into the pantheon of boxing deities. Only the United States has produced more world champions than Mexico throughout the entire history of professional boxing.
The impact is conspicuous. The dates of Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day are indelibly etched into the boxing calendar, thanks first to Chávez, who began marking their concomitant weekends with ritual violence in the 1990s, and subsequently to Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez — the man currently recognized by most fans, pundits and even fellow fighters as the ‘Face of Boxing’ — who has since made the holidays his own.
And while the 34-year-old edges toward the end of a storied career, Mexican boxing is enjoying its ascendancy on the world stage. The tale of Mexican fighters traveling to the U.S. to achieve glory — and earn their fortunes — is one that dates back to the first professional bouts. But high level matchups are not the preserve of the U.S., and the past 18 months have seen an influx of prominent events within Mexico itself.
In terms of prestige, the most significant of these fights came from Canelo; in the summer of 2023, he took a break from his 16-fight Vegas residency to defend the world title in his hometown of Guadalajara. The fiery-haired wrecking ball left millions of dollars on the table to bring the fight for divisional supremacy to Jalisco, where he sold out the 46,000-seater Estadio Akron on his way to comfortably beating British opponent John Ryder and retaining his standing as undisputed king of the super middleweights.
But the domestic boxing scene can do more than bask in Canelo’s successes. Elsewhere, renowned British promoters Matchroom Boxing have signed an array of Mexican prospects and begun hosting their own fight nights across the country. The super featherweight world title fight between O’Shaquie Foster and Eduardo “Rocky” Hernández in Cancún produced the most theatrical end to any contest in 2023, albeit not the finish Mexican fans were hoping for, as Foster dramatically rescued a losing position by knocking Hernández out in the dying seconds of the final round.
Hernández sees this heightened activity as the key to his redemption. Once more, the Mexico City fighter is touted for a shot at the title and a chance to become the next Mexican world champion. Significantly, all of these events have been televised worldwide on the DAZN channel, before the eyes of a global audience. Hernández is one of many Mexican fighters hoping to benefit from this exposure and Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn has promised more to come in 2025.
Mexican boxers knocking out the global scene
Beyond Mexico itself, Mexican boxers continue to impress audiences abroad. November’s shambolic contest between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson was partially salvaged by an undercard containing the WBC welterweight championship fight between the Mexican-Americans Mario Barrios and Abel Ramos. Barrios retained the title after an action-packed draw that contained good moments for both fighters. The competitive, 12-round affair was conducted before an attendance narrowly shy of the US record for an indoor boxing event — the 72,300 spectators in AT&T Stadium falling just short of the 73,126 who witnessed Canelo’s victory over Billy Joe Saunders in the same Texas arena in May 2021.
The night after Netflix’s questionable foray into combat sports, more appealing viewing could be found at the inaugural Riyadh Season Latino Night in Saudi Arabia. An evening of high-quality, well-matched fights was a perfect salve for the anticlimactic finale that had dogged the previous night. In stark contrast to the Paul-Tyson farce, Latino Night was topped by a career-best performance from Mexico’s Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramírez, who comprehensively battered British opponent Chris Billam-Smith on the way to winning a unanimous decision and the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles.
The following month, legendary U.S. promoters Top Rank closed out their 2024 schedule with an all-Mexican affair, as Emanuel Navarrete defended his WBO junior lightweight title with a decisive sixth-round knockout of Óscar Valdez. The enraptured crowd in Phoenix, Arizona witnessed little caution from either fighter as both men unrelentingly sought to out-land each other. Ultimately, Navarrete proved too much for his opponent, knocking Valdez down three times on the way to an impressive victory.
The future of a recent Canelo opponent, however, is more uncertain. After losing a shot at Canelo’s belts on Cinco de Mayo weekend, Tijuana’s Jaime Munguía was admirably active, bouncing back with an assured knockout win over Erik Bazinyan before taking his own homecoming fight to close out the year.
Munguía headlined Tijuana’s Estadio Caliente, less than three miles from the music hall where he made his debut as a 16-year-old. The comeback was on, right up until the moment that he dropped his guard and was knocked out in the dying seconds of the sixth round. Besides delighting the bookmakers, the powerful straight-right transformed winner Bruno Surace’s life in seconds but left Munguía with a long journey back to title contention.
But, while it was an occasion to forget for one of Mexico’s most prominent fighters, there remains some symbolic importance to that mid-December night in Tijuana; Munguía’s determination to fight again, before the pressure of a hometown crowd, and just months after losing on the biggest stage of his career, is reflective of the spirit so prized in Mexican boxers; and the staging of the fight, south of the desert frontier across which the sport first entered this country, is a recognition that Mexico — a nation of boxing fanatics — is not just here to create boxing’s biggest stars, but to give them a platform upon which to shine.
Munguía will return. And, whether to witness redemption or verify the death of his career, fans will watch with interest.
2025 Should be a fascinating year for Mexican boxing. The world waits in anticipation.
Ajay Smith is a freelance journalist and ghostwriter from Manchester, England, now based in Mexico City. His areas of specialization include boxing, soccer, political history, and current affairs. Samples of his work can be found at ajaysmith.com/portfolio.
