The Thursday board meeting was Governor Alejandro Díaz de León's last.
The Bank of México has raised interest rates more than analysts had expected as it tries to smooth over a rocky leadership transition while the country faces its highest inflation in two decades.
The central bank raised its benchmark rate by 50 basis points on Thursday to 5.5%.
Four of five Bank of México (Banxico) board members voted for a 0.5% increase with only deputy governor Gerardo Esquivel in favor of a 0.25% rise. It was the fifth consecutive board meeting at which the benchmark interest rate was raised, but the first 0.5% spike since February 2017.
Banxico cited inflation concerns in a statement explaining its justification for the 0.5% increase, double what most analysts anticipated. Annual inflation hit 7.37% in November, its highest level in more than 20 years.
The central bank revised its end of year inflation forecast to 7.1%, a 0.3% increase compared to the prediction it published in November.
The bank simultaneously faces an internal challenge in smoothing over a turbulent transition to new leadership. In November, President López Obrador shook markets when he withdrew his nominee for central bank governor and replaced him with a little-known public sector economist.
Victoria Rodríguez Ceja has since been officially confirmed as Banxico’s next governor and will be the first woman to hold the role, although the opposition has questioned her monetary policy experience and her independence from the president.
Rodríguez, who is set to take over from current governor Alejandro Díaz de León on January 1, has vowed to fight inflation, not touch international reserves and maintain the bank’s autonomy.
Like many countries, Mexico is trying to tame soaring prices. From Brazil to Poland, central banks around the world are tightening monetary policy in an effort to contain inflation.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is also taking a more aggressive approach, and said on Wednesday that it expects to raise interest rates three times next year.
Alonso Cervera, chief Latin America economist for Credit Suisse, predicted that the Banxico board will continue to raise its benchmark interest rate next year, with accumulated hikes adding up to 1-1.25%. That would result in a rate of between 6.5% and 6.75% at the end of 2022.
The bank is also contending with a fragile recovery in Mexico’s economy, which saw a sudden contraction in the third quarter. More recent data suggests a rebound, but analysts have revised down their gross domestic product growth projections for 2021 to 5%, according to a monthly Banxico survey.
“Growth data has been disappointing, and the 4Q rebound does not seem to be strong,” analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote before the decision.
The peso strengthened on the announcement of the latest interest rate increase, rallying as much as 1.2% to 20.75 per US dollar, Reuters reported. One greenback was worth about 20.8 pesos shortly after 5:00 p.m.
Uncertainty over the central bank’s leadership has weighed on foreign investment. Foreign investors pulled nearly $1.3 billion from government securities in November, while foreign investments in equities also show outflows of nearly $4.8 billion to November, according to analysts at BBVA.
“We would expect foreign inflows to remain stagnated, as uncertainty regarding the current tightening cycle will continue due to the probable noise resulting from the new composition of Banxico’s board,” the analysts wrote before Thursday’s decision.
Artifacts related to a Mexica 'New Fire' ceremony. Melitón Tapia (INAH)
Archaeologists have discovered relics related to a ceremony carried out by the Mexica people every 52 years to mark the beginning of a new calendar cycle.
Artifacts linked to a pre-Hispanic New Fire ceremony were found by National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) archaeologists near the historic center of Mexico City. The capital was built on land where the Mexica city of Tenochtitlán formerly stood.
Before the New Fire ceremony took place fires across Tenochtitlán were extinguished. Then a new one was lit on Huixachtlan – a hill in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa now known as Cerro de la Estrella – to stave off the end of the world. The fire was started on the chest of a sacrificed person whose heart was removed to fuel the flames.
Residents of Tenochtitlán, which was founded in 1325 and conquered by the Spanish in 1521, destroyed and threw out figurines of gods and domestic utensils as a kind of spring cleaning in the days before the ceremony.
INAH archaeologists discovered such items buried at a depth of almost one meter outside the San Fernando cemetery, located in the neighborhood of Guerrero. Among the items they found were pots, mortars and clay figurines. The discovery was made while the archaeologists were inspecting public works that were being undertaken outside the cemetery.
Excavation coordinator Nancy Domínguez Rosas and anthropologist Eduardo García Flores with remains found near San Fernando. Melitón Tapia (INAH)
INAH archaeologist Nancy Domínguez told the newspaper El País that the location where the artifacts were found was formerly a swamp where Mexica people discarded items in the lead-up to the New Fire ceremony.
“The pre-Hispanic garbage dumps were associated with the New Fire ceremony … [because] people went [to them] to deposit their important objects to symbolize [the beginning of] a new cycle,” she said.
In addition to figurines of gods and domestic utensils, Mexica people got rid of clothes, hearth stones and objects used to make fire such as flint.
The INAH archaeologists also uncovered 17 burial pits from the 19th century outside the San Fernando cemetery, where the tombs of luminaries such as independence hero Vicente Guerrero and 19th century president Benito Juárez are located.
They found the remains of various individuals, some of whom may have died during large outbreaks of illness in the capital during the 19th century.
Around 7,000 Mexico City residents died during a cholera outbreak in 1833, INAH said in a statement, noting that the figure represented 5% of the entire population at the time.
The World, a luxury residential yacht, arrived this past weekend in Huatulco.
After more than a year of COVID-related cancellations, cruise ships are back in Oaxaca, led by The World, a luxury residential yacht that arrived this past weekend at Bahías de Huatulco, a resort destination on the Oaxaca coast.
The ship, which calls itself the largest private property residential yacht in the world, arrived with more than 350 resident-tourists who were expected to spend more than US $25,000 per day as a group.
The 644-foot ship’s passengers stay in owned or rented apartment-sized cabins that the company refers to as residences — accommodations that can have up to three bedrooms and other amenities like living rooms and a kitchen.
The visitors will explore not only Huatulco but also other Oaxaca destinations, including Puerto Escondido, the Magical Town of Mazunte, coffee plantations and the lagoons of Chacahua and Manialtepec.
This cruise season will be guided by strict health safety measures, said state Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Rivera Castellanos. The guidelines have been approved by the state health ministry and are part of a state effort to position itself as a safe tourism destination.
The state expects to welcome between 27 and 31 ships this tourist season. The World, pictured here, was the first.
Oaxaca also has received the “Safe Travels” stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council, a certification for high standards of health and hygiene protocols.
The state expects to welcome between 27 and 31 ships this tourist season, with an average of 1,900 passengers per ship. Passengers typically spend US $50 to $70 a day, Rivera said.
Eduardo Rueda Caballero of the Castillo de la Esfera artisan workshop paints flowers onto an ornament's surface. He can do 60 a day. Photos by Joseph Sorrentino
With all the problems piling up in the world — worries about climate change and the continuing pandemic to mention just two of the biggest — it can be little tough to get into the Christmas spirit. But a trip to Chignahuapan, Puebla, can definitely help put you in the mood.
That’s because Chignahuapan, one of Mexico’s designated Pueblos Mágicos, located two hours north of Puebla city, boasts 400 stores and factories dedicated to making just one thing: hand-made artisanal Christmas ornaments, known in Mexico as esferas.
The art of making esferas was brought to Chignahuapan when Rafael Méndez Nuñez, a chemical engineer who had an interest in making ornaments, moved to Chignahuapan from Uruapan, Michoacán in 1966. Initially, the esferas that he made were very simple: round, silver and undecorated. Today, using the same techniques that Méndez pioneered, other artisans make ornaments that are much more elaborate.
Esferas today come in countless shapes, sizes and decorations. Some are simple bulbs painted in bright strips; some have snowflakes or other winter scenes; others are shaped like small tops; still others have been made to look like hot-air balloons.
The first step in making an esfera is transforming a long, narrow tube of glass into a globe or some other figure using a blowtorch. This is done by craftsmen known as globeadores.
A holiday ornament begins life at the Esferas Campanita workshop as a thin glass tube.
“The glass we use is Pyrex, which we import from Germany,” said Josué Santos Galindo, who works at Esferas Campanita, a family-owned business started by Evodio Hererra and Arminda Olvera in 1998.
“One needs to know how much temperature to use, [and one] needs to control it,” Santos said.
The glass is heated and pulled by a globeador so that there are two thin tubes connected to a larger mass in the middle. The glass is ready to be shaped into a bulb when that mass is softened and turns orange. The end of one of the tubes is then heated and sealed.
“The difficult part is when the bulb is made,” Santos said.
This is done by gently blowing into the unsealed tube. “One needs to let the air in while turning the glass, only using the lips to blow,” he said. “It is difficult to control the air.”
Shoppers can try their hand at making a bulb at the store, working under the watchful eye of Santos or another employee. But it’s a difficult skill to do well; it could take as long as two weeks to learn how to make a perfectly round bulb.
Juanita Solano Cruz has worked as a globeadora for 27 years. The esferas she makes are much more complicated than a simple bulb.
With seemingly little effort, she’s able to expertly transform a single thin piece of glass into an elaborate esfera of five differently sized bulbs. To make each of the bulbs, she first heats a small part of the glass, blows into the tube to obtain the size she wants, heats another section, then blows another perfect bulb, continuing the process until she completes the esfera.
She laughed slightly when asked how long it would take to learn how to make something like that. “It would take about a month to learn to make the smallest one,” she said. “For a large one, one needs more experience. In about two years, a person would be an expert.”
Once a bulb’s made and cooled, it’s filled with a silver nitrate solution, dipped into warm water and gently shaken to evenly coat the bulb. This makes the esfera opaque and ready for the next step, which is painting.
About a 10-minute ride from Esferas Campanita is El Castillo de la Esfera, the largest maker of holiday ornaments in Mexico, founded by Javier Tirado Saavedra in 1993. José Romero Sánchez is a pintador (painter) who has worked there for 27 years. “It is a special paint,” he explained as he gently turned the bulb while pouring the color over it.
Although this may seem like a simple step, it’s not. “The important thing is to know how to turn the bulbs,” Romero said. On a typical day, he can paint 5,000 of them.
Each ornament is also dyed by hand before it is decorated with a painted design or scene.
Once dried, the stem that’s still attached to the bulb is cut using a small emery stone. Once that’s done, the bulb’s ready to be decorated.
Eduardo Rueda Caballero sits at his workbench, focusing intently on the flowers he’s painting on a bulb. “I can decorate 60 in a day,” he said. To learn how to paint a bulb like the one he was working on takes about a week, he said. “Practicing daily.”
Nearby, Orlando Reyes painted something more complicated, el Nacimiento — a Nativity scene — on bulbs. He can make 100 of these over the course of three days, painting the scene in stages. “Although we take longer to make them,” said Carolina Vázquez, another pintadora, “we make them well.”
Both El Castillo de la Esfera and Esferas Campanita also make personalized esferas, painting whatever a customer requests on the outside or tucking a photograph on the inside. Small esferas go for as little as 50 pesos (US $2.50) per dozen, while the most expensive ones cost 500 to 600 (US $25 to $30) a piece.
“When people see esferas in a store, they do not know how much work goes into it,” said Santos. “This is why it costs more. If people knew how much work goes into it, they would value it more.”
Esferas Campanita is on the smaller side, employing 15 people in its store and — during the busy season from October through early January — another 15 in its workshop.
El Castillo de la Esfera is several times larger.
“Here, 200 families depend on the company,” said Arturo Amezcua Muñoz, who has worked there for three years as the director of online sales. “This includes salespeople, drivers, carpenters. One hundred people work in the factory.”
He said that the factory turns out “millions” of esferas a year, operating year-round. “We have to,” he said, “to prepare for this season.”
The business also offers tours of the factory. On a recent Sunday, 4,000 people passed through.
If you’re hoping to make a day of it in Chignahuapan, in addition to its multitude of stores selling esferas, has a lovely zócalo featuring a colorful gazebo. During the season, there’s a huge Christmas tree with performers decked out as Santas, Grinches and other characters.
There’s also the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, a Baroque-style church with a beautifully painted facade and its 14-meter-tall carving of the Virgin Mary inside. For those seeking a bit more nature, there’s the Laguna Almoloya, the pueblo’s lake, as well as nearby waterfalls, rivers and hot springs.
Ornaments from Esferas Campanita made to look like hot air balloons. Courtesy of Esferas Campanita
It’s estimated that the workshops in Chignahuapan turn out 70 million esferas a year, every one of them made by hand — a laborious process but not one that’s going to change.
“It is important to make these by hand to preserve tradition and for employment,” Santos said. “We all have work. It helps people economically in Chignahuapan. The character of this pueblo is as a producer of hand-made ornaments.”
When asked if there were plans to mechanize the process in the future, he simply said, “No.”
A view of San Simón Zahuatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico's poorest municipality in 2020.
In Mexico’s 15 poorest municipalities – located in three southern states with large indigenous populations — more than 98% of the population lives in poverty.
A report published by national social development agency Coneval on Wednesday shows that eight of those municipalities are in Oaxaca, six are in Chiapas and one is in Guerrero.
The poorest municipality in 2020 was San Simón Zahuatlán, Oaxaca, where 99.6% of residents live in poverty. In 2019, human development in the municipality, located in the state’s Mixteca region, was comparable to that in Yemen, the United Nations said in a report.
The second poorest municipality was Cochoapa el Grande, Guerrero, where the practice of selling young girls into marriage to alleviate poverty is common. According to Coneval, 99.4% of residents in the Montaña region municipality live in poverty.
The other 13 municipalities with poverty rates above 98% were, in order, Coicoyán de las Flores, Oaxaca; San Juan Cancuc, Chiapas; San Francisco Teopan, Oaxaca; Chanal, Chiapas; San Lucas Camotlán, Oaxaca; Aldama, Chiapas; Chalchihuitán, Chiapas; San Miguel Tilquiápam, Oaxaca; Santiago Amoltepec, Oaxaca; San Miguel Mixtepec, Oaxaca; Chenalhó, Chiapas; Santiago Tlazoyaltepec, Oaxaca; and San Andrés Duraznal, Chiapas.
Five of those – San Simón Zahuatlán, Aldama, Chanal, Chalchihuitán, San Juan Cancuc – were also among the 15 poorest municipalities in the country in 2010 and 2015.
A person is considered to be living in poverty if their income is below Coneval’s poverty threshold – currently 3,898 pesos (US $187) per month in urban areas and 2,762 pesos (US $133) in rural areas – and they present at least one social deficiency out of six, among which are poor access to adequate nutrition, housing and healthcare.
A person is considered to be living in extreme poverty if their income is below 1,850 pesos per month in urban areas and 1,457 pesos in rural areas and they present at least three social deficiencies.
The 15 municipalities with the highest extreme poverty rates are also located in Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guerrero. Santiago Amoltepec ranked first in that category with 84.4% of residents living in extreme poverty.
Coneval also identified the municipalities with the highest number of residents living in poverty and extreme poverty last year.
León, Guanajuato, headed the former list with almost 817,000 impoverished people.
San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, a municipality in the Monterrey metropolitan area, had the lowest poverty rate in the country in 2020.
Five other municipalities had more than half a million poor people in 2020, when poverty levels rose due to the pandemic. They were Ecatepec, México state; Iztapalapa, Mexico City; Puebla city; Nezahualcóyotl, México state; and Toluca, México state.
Acapulco, Guerrero, had the highest number of people living in extreme poverty – more than 126,000 – while León, Iztapalapa, Toluca and Ocosingo, Chiapas, also had more than 100,000 extremely poor residents.
Coneval said that half of all Mexicans not considered poor live in just 46 urban municipalities, located mainly in the country’s central and northern states.
San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, an affluent municipality in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, had the lowest poverty rate in the country in 2020 with just 5.5% of residents considered poor. Human development there in 2019 was comparable to that in France, the U.N. said.
Eleven of the 15 municipalities with the lowest poverty rates last year – all 11% or lower – are in Nuevo León. The ten others are Parás, Agualeguas, Marín, Higueras, Melchor Ocampo, Abasolo, Los Herreras, General Treviño, San Nicolás de los Garza and Cerralvo.
The four other municipalities among the 15 with the lowest poverty rates last year are Benito Juárez, Mexico City; Huépac, Sonora; Riva Palacio, Chihuahua; and Abasolo, Coahuila.
A report published earlier this month said that Mexico is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The top 10% of income earners in Mexico earn over 30 times more than the bottom 50%, said the World Inequality Report 2022, completed by the World Inequality Lab.
Intentional homicides are down 33% in Zihuatanejo, the mayor told a Wednesday afternoon security meeting.
Jorge Sánchez Allec shared the news at a meeting that included Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda along with other civil and military leaders.
Sánchez said the decrease in homicides is due to a coordinated effort between federal, state and municipal security forces, including a special strategy focused on eliminating violence against women.
He also said that a greater number of crimes have been prosecuted, thanks to efforts to follow up on reported crimes.
Governor Salgado offered her continued support in the efforts to reduce crime, and said the state Public Security Ministry and the Ministry of Women will continue to coordinate with municipal authorities.
The semi-trailer filled with migrants passed through a toll plaza where immigration agents were stationed, just five kilometers before the deadly crash.
A tractor-trailer carrying 160 migrants that crashed in Chiapas last week passed through a toll plaza where immigration agents were stationed, contrary to statements by federal officials.
Fifty-seven migrants were killed in last Thursday’s accident on the Chiapa de Corzo-Tuxtla Gutiérrez highway and more than 100 others were injured.
Footage from state government security cameras shows the truck passing through a toll plaza approximately five kilometers from where the accident occurred. It disproves claims by officials, including President López Obrador, that the semi-trailer didn’t pass through any government checkpoint.
The National Immigration Institute (INM) agents at the location are assumed to have been deployed there to prevent people smuggling. Two INM vehicles parked next to the lane the truck was in before reaching the toll plaza can be seen in the footage. The semi was not subjected to any revision.
The migrants, mostly Guatemalans, had paid smugglers up to US $13,000 to get to the United States, the newspaper El País reported.
Scene of the December 9 crash.
Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas said this week that the people allegedly responsible for smuggling the migrants had been identified. The federal Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation into the accident and the smuggling operation, he said.
Of more than 110 migrants hospitalized after the crash, over 40 have been discharged, according to the Chiapas government.
The INM has offered humanitarian visas to some of the migrants whose planned northward journey came to an abrupt halt when the trailer they were traveling in detached from the tractor unit and overturned. But most didn’t accept the offer.
The news website Infobae reported that 27 visas were offered but only three Guatemalans and one Dominican Republic national accepted them. Twenty migrants opted to return to their countries of origin while three others remained in Mexico and were weighing their options.
Some other migrants involved in the accident are missing, according to their families and friends. Relatives of Guatemalan migrants said they have received phone calls from men who claim they kidnapped their missing loved ones. The alleged abductors have demanded ransoms of up to US $3,000, they told the newspaper Milenio.
“They’ve been calling us and saying they have information about my missing friend, they’re asking for $3,000 to release him because they kidnapped him. But how are we going to pay if we can barely get together 2,000 quetzales [US $260] to go to Chiapas,” said Pedro Méndez, whose brother was injured in the accident and is also missing.
He said he is collecting donations from neighbors, relatives and friends in order to pay to travel to Chiapas to search for missing migrants.
Elvira Alguá Morales, whose 17-year-old brother is missing, recounted a similar story. “We don’t know anything about him and [the presumed kidnappers] have been calling from Mexican telephone numbers asking us for $2,000 or $3,000 for … information about where he is,” she said.
In an unrelated case, organs for transplant are rushed into a Mexico City hospital following their donation in Sonora.
A young father’s tragic death gave six people a new lease on life in Acapulco this week, thanks to his decision to be an organ donor.
The 30-year-old, identified only as Ricardo, had said since he was a teenager that he wanted to be an organ donor, his family said.
“I want to give life after my life,” his mother Rosalinda recalled him saying.
A father and construction worker, Ricardo also regularly donated blood until a motorcycle accident on December 5 left him with a severe traumatic brain injury.
With few options, the family decided to honor Ricardo’s wishes and gave their approval for the donation of his organs.
“I’m about to say goodbye to my son as a hero, not a fantasy hero but a real hero,” Rosalinda said.
A multidisciplinary team of specialists prepared the organs for transport on December 13 at an IMSS hospital in Acapulco. Family, friends and medical staff gathered to applaud Ricardo’s sacrifice as he went into surgery. His heart, kidneys, liver and corneas were flown out to be transplanted immediately to six other patients in need.
Rosalinda said that she hopes the organ recipients will “take full advantage of the blessing … that they live their lives, that they be happy and find fulfillment; [the gift] is being given from the heart.”
Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Zaldívar gave his third annual report as head of the federal judicial power on Wednesday. Defensoría Pública Federal
There is no longer institutionalized corruption or nepotism in the federal judiciary, Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Zaldívar declared Wednesday.
Delivering his third annual report as head of the federal judicial power, Zaldívar said that corruption is no longer tolerated and that only “isolated” cases remain.
There have have been countless cases over the years in which judges have taken or allegedly taken bribes in exchange for favorable rulings. Some judges have been found to have ties to powerful criminal organizations such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Zaldívar acknowledged that he has previously spoken about shady dealings between judges and suspected criminals.
“A few years ago at this very place I said that the federal judicial power faced a significant corruption problem. I annoyed a lot of people when I said it and the assertion still makes people uncomfortable today. But when it comes to public institutions, which belong to the people, dirty laundry isn’t aired at home,” he said.
“… [Now] I can categorically declare that there is no longer tolerated or institutionalized corruption in the federal judicial power. There is no longer corruption endorsed or sponsored from above. The cases of corruption that exist are isolated and are no longer due to the existence of mafias of corruption that used to operate from within. A change of behavior has been generated because there are no longer [judicial] leaders who protect corruption schemes,” Zaldívar said.
Speaking to an audience that included his Supreme Court colleagues, President López Obrador, members of the federal cabinet and lawmakers, the chief justice said the only way to overcome problems such as corruption is through self-criticism.
“Acknowledging our problems is a duty of justice for those who have suffered corruption and for the vast majority of public servants who are honest and honorable,” said Zaldívar, who is considered an ally of the president, although the two men have clashed.
He said that nepotism within the judiciary was a common practice for years.
“For a long time the opportunities to enter and be promoted in the federal judicial power didn’t depend on merit. There was a generalized practice in which the heads of jurisdictional bodies gave appointments to family members, … which generated significant inequality for access [to positions] and promotion as well as conflicts of interest and influence peddling,” Zaldívar said.
“With … the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to Combat Nepotism, we’ve put an end to this phenomenon. Today there are clear rules that govern hiring and which prevent situations of conflicts of interest and influence peddling. Thanks to the application of these rules we’ve eradicated nepotism in all jurisdictional bodies,” he said.
“… Today we’re a new judicial power that provides justice that is more humane and effective … than ever,” Zaldívar affirmed.
“… The people of Mexico are crying out for justice that has historically been denied … [because the judiciary] has always been at the service of power and privilege. The changes we’ve achieved will begin to be felt soon. The people will know they have federal judges who will defend them and make their demands for justice a reality.”
The federal government has sought to do its bit to clean up the judiciary, passing reforms designed to eliminate corruption, nepotism and harassment in the court system.
López Obrador attempted to extend Zaldívar’s term as chief justice by two years, arguing that only he is capable of implementing the government’s laws to overhaul the judicial system. The Congress approved the initiative, but the Supreme Court revoked the law last month, ruling that it was unconstitutional.
World Boxing Council 2021 boxer of the year Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, left, with his manager Eddy Reynoso. Eddy Reynoso/Twitter
Boxing champion Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez added to his accolades of a stellar 2021 on Tuesday when he was named the boxer of the year by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
The event of the year also went to Canelo, for his knockout victory over the American, Caleb Plant, in November. The Guadalajara-born Álvarez became the first undisputed super middleweight champion when he stopped Plant in the 11th round.
“He made history, and now he’s boxer of the year,” the WBC tweeted to congratulate the red-headed athlete.
His other fights in 2021 were knockout victories against Turk Avni Yildirim in February and Briton Billy Joe Saunders in May.
Eddy Reynoso, his trainer, won the award for Coach of the Year. Reynoso also guided American Andy Ruiz and Mexican Óscar Valdez to triumph this year.
“With an extraordinary job in 2021. With multiple champions in his camp, Eddy Reynoso is the trainer of the year,” read the WBC’s congratulatory tweet.
The men’s fight of the year, a separate category, was given to Briton Tyson Fury and American Deontay Wilder III for their heavyweight bout in October, which Fury won.
