My experience with professional boxing came more than four years ago when my father and I went out on an entrepreneurial limb and started JCG Boxing Management. The talent in the El Paso area was immense. There was a period of time in El Paso when several good amateur boxers were ready to turn pro. We offered them professional guidance, and started with a boom by signing six local prospects. The fighters we manage have fought on networks such as Univision, Telefutura, ESPN, ESPN2, Showtime, HBO, and NBC. As business grew, we soon realized that the amount of Mexican fighters in the American boxing scene was tremendous. In this essay, when I use the phrase Mexican boxer it does not refer to Mexican American or Chicano boxers but the boxers who live in Mexico. These fighters are the ones who cross the border, sometimes illegally to fight in America. The impact that these Mexican fighters have on American boxing is as important as the sport itself.
The economical situations in Mexico make some fighters flourish by giving them the opportunity to become a world champion. The dream of any boxer is to become a world champion. From Muhammad Ali to Mexico’s Salvador Sanchez and Even Cuba’s Felix Savon, who is the only heavy weight boxer in the world to win three gold medals, the dream to be number one has come true. The fame and money that accompanies being number one doesn’t hurt either. The dream that a poor boy from Mexico can grow up and be a champion is not that far fetched. Many Mexican boxers come close to a championship and some have turned out to be great champions, but for the rest it can be a cruel and even life ending process. There is a black cloud that hangs over many of the fighters from beyond the American Border that are just looking for a quick payday.
It is a well known fact that in the United States the sport of boxing is mostly made up of African American and Hispanic/Chicano participants. In the northern United States the boxing demographic is made up of African American men usually in the heavier weight classes, being 147 and above. In the Southern United States the demographic is usually the Hispanic/Chicano boxer usually in the lower weights, 147 and below. In the south the states who are busy with boxing are Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and the Mecca of championship fights Las Vegas, Nevada. In the north, the fight scene happens in Michigan, New York, and New Jersey.
The southwest has always been a good fight region. Pioneers like George Parnassus made a popular trend of bringing Mexican fighters to the United States and even made the lower weight classes popular with the fight fans. The convenience that the southwest provides to the fight game is as follows. Let’s say an American promoter wants to put a local show on with several boxers in the area of El Paso. It would be cheaper for the promoter to bring in boxers from Juarez and Chihuahua City, than to bring a fighter from midland or San Antonio. The reason for this is that most Mexican boxers travel on their own or accept the bus as a way of transportation. American fighters are a bit pickier and are usually flown in costing the promoter much more money. The travel is only one part, the promoter also has to lodge and feed the fighter and up to four of his trainers for two days. This way of saving money is used by the multimillion dollar promoters to the small budget promoters.
The pay scale for these fighters is very different from US fighters. Mexican boxers take fights for less than American boxers, thus saving the promoter even more money. An average ten round fight with good opponents will cost you around $5000 dollars each fighter for being the main event. A Mexican fighter would be willing to take the fight for $2000. The Mexican fighter gets paid little or no money unless he comes to the United States. I manage a fighter who came to my company two years ago from Mexico. He came to us with fourteen fights with only three losses. He was a good brawler and had a reputation for knocking his opponents out. He had told us that when he fought in Mexico the lowest he got paid was 600 pesos, roughly $60 American dollars. The most he ever made was 6000 pesos, roughly $600 dollars. His first fight here in the United States, he made $1,300 dollars and just recently fought in Las Vegas for $5,000 dollars. The difference is night and day.
The health of some Mexican fighters is also at risk. In the United States it is Federal law that all boxers must have a federal id. This id is used not only for identification; it is used as a tool to see what suspensions have been put on a boxer. A good example of what Mexican fighters used to do was fight in the United States and get suspended for several weeks for being knocked out, then come back one week later and fight under a different name. Aside from the federal id, most states in the US now require several tests to be done in order to make sure the fighter is fit to fight. These tests include all three hepatitis strains, HIV, an examination by an eye surgeon, a physical exam, and in some state an MRI brain scan. Yet, some fighters from Mexico do not even get tested for diseases that can be transmitted, or get checked to see if they are in good physical condition. Several fighters from Mexico have died or received serious trauma to the brain because they were not checked properly. In many instances when test were required, many of the forms were forged by phony doctors in Mexico. Since there is no way to check the forms for legitimacy the boxers were allowed to box. I have also heard of cases where American fighters caught hepatitis from Mexican boxers. In a sport where open wounds are present, it is very easy to catch an illness. Besides the fact that there is a double standard for Mexican fighters, they are still allowed to fight.
There has been some reform to boxing mainly fro the Muhammad Ali act of 1999 which was co-created by Senator John McCain. This act requires state commissions to report to one big national commission and to regulate by a set standard of guidelines that are imposed by the national commission. This act was supported by many of the boxers in the United States. The Fightfax organization keeps records of all fights in North America. This important tool has helped many promoters and fighters safe from being under or over matched. This is critically important to the game of boxing. Many of the fighters coming from Mexico had a big question mark as far as boxing records go. Some of the fighters claimed to have good records, claiming that they were legitimate opponents but this was not true at times. To get the big payday some fighters claimed that they had over twenty fights or so when they actually had ten or fewer. This also backfired for many American fighters and promoters. They would bring a fighter from Mexico who claimed to have few fights, but when fighting he was an experienced veteran with many bouts to his claim.
This concern of not knowing the boxing records of these imported fighters has ruined many up and coming boxing prospects. For example, in my company I had a fighter who had only eleven fights. We were offered a fight in Albuquerque to fight a guy who had claimed to have only twelve fights. Luckily we won the fight but after close review he had over twenty seven fights to his name. The reason for this is that he had used a loophole that is common use in Mexico. His full name was Nelson Gonzalez Soto. Depending on what night he was fighting he was using the fight name Nelson Soto if he won and Nelson Gonzalez if he lost. The using of the mothers maiden name is common in Mexico but is causing a mess in the recognition and recording of records.
There is a fine line that a manager or a promoter must walk with their fighter in order to make him a good fighter and a well known one. As a fighter turns professional he needs to be lead in a series of steps. A fighter will start out fighting four round professional fights, then move to six rounds, and with more experience moves to eight rounds and eventually ten rounds. Once you make it to ten rounds you are an experienced fighter. Going twelve rounds is only done in championship bouts, this is why the last two rounds of a title fight are called champion rounds. In order for a fighter to gain experience he must fight several fights at each level of different rounds. The fighter also needs to fight fighters who are around his experience level of boxing. To make things more complex a fighter cannot fight opponents who are too easy or too hard. If a fighter fights opponents who are too easy, he gets used to fighting bums and will be surprised and may even lose when he fights an average fighter. On the flip side, if he fights opponents who are too hard he will either get hurt or end up burned out by the time he has reached ten rounds. Fighting Mexican fighters is like playing Russian roulette. It is a fact that any up and coming professional fighter will have to face Mexican fighters, yet choosing them is tricky. The Mexican fighters may lie about their record and be too tough for your fighter. This can be a devastating for any fighter and even dangerous.
Although there are many ill points about Mexican boxers there are just as many good points. New talent is always sprouting up. The dream of any promoter is to find a boxer that has enough talent to be a world champion. This benefits the promoter in two ways. The first way is that promoter makes a name for himself. The second is that the boxer will carry such a fan base that when the promoter puts that boxer in a show as the main event, the promoter will profit by ticket sales and network royalties such as HBO or Pay Per View. Many fighters from Mexico have made themselves and their promoter extremely rich. For example Julio Cesar Chavez became a millionaire by fighting under Don King’s promotional company. Marco Antonio Barrera made millions for Bob Arum’s Top Rank Incorporated. These fighters have appeal to the Latin American culture as well as the general boxing fan. With television broadcasting boxing in English and in Spanish, exposure to Mexican boxers is easily done.
Another advantage that Mexican boxers bring is that there are more shows than ever. Since Mexican boxers fight for less there is more money in the promoter’s budget. Promoters are saving more thus putting on more shows. An active promoter will usually have a show once every other month, but now it is more common to see promotional companies have up to two shows every month. By putting on more shows there are also more opportunities for American fighters to fight.
Mexican fighters also bring more styles of fighting. With more styles of fighting you get fights that are more interesting to watch. The American style is separated into two basic styles. The first being a quick boxing and floating style like Muhammad Ali, and the second is a tough brawler style like Rocky Marciano. It is safe to say that the Average range of boxing styles in America is between these two styles. The Mexican fighting style has more emphasis on body punching and is a stand in place style. This style was made popular by early Mexican fighters such as Salvador Sanchez, Ruben Olivarez, and Julio Cesar Chavez. This style utilized short steps and made use of excessive head movement and waist bending. Bringing more variety to the boxing scene, Mexican fighters made for more exiting fights.
Mexican fans also contribute to tickets sales and profits made by the boxers and promoters. For example, when Marco Antonio Barrera or Julio Cesar Chavez fight, they usually box in big fight cities like Las Vegas or Atlantic City. In my own experience I can tell you that hundreds of fans from Mexico fly in from their native country to support their boxer. These fans buy tickets, merchandising, and contribute to the local economy by lodging, dining, and also by gambling in the Casinos. The following by the Mexican fans is tremendous.
The impact of Mexican boxers in America has changed the sport in many ways. To some people the impact is negative but to others the impact is positive. There is going to be a summit of the America’s promoters and managers, date to be announced, that is going to cover the state of professional boxing in America. This summit was brought about by Lou Dibella of Dibella entertainment regarding the poor state of boxing currently in the United States. Some members of the boxing community are blaming the dependency of Mexican fighters for the poor state of boxing. Others blame the lack of regulation in the sport today. Personally, I believe that Mexican fighters are to blame for some of the bad parts of professional boxing, but not all. As described earlier I believe that there are some changes that need to be implemented in order to improve boxing. Some of those solutions may be better medical regulation for fighters outside of the United States. A more detailed method of record keeping to avoid double name usage. Also, I would implement a pay scale with a standard base so that all fighters will get paid fairly. And the creation of the proper authority to regulate these laws in each state’s boxing commission.
Finally, Mexican boxers in America are needed. If Mexican boxers were banned there would be little or no boxing at all, especially in the lower weights where Mexican boxers are the dominant force. These boxers contribute to the sport economically and culturally. They provide better competition and fights are better matched with different styles that provide excitement. Economically, they contribute by bringing many fans from Mexico that spend their money here in America. Also, it allows many Mexican fighters get to live the dream of becoming a world champion.
In conclusion, there are advantages and disadvantages to having Mexican fighters box in the United States. In my opinion, the good outweighs the bad, but the impact is more than anyone in the professional boxing industry has expected.