Panamanian boxing in mourning
By Gabriel F. Cordero
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 24 Nov 2020
Panamanian boxing has days of mourning after the death of two of its renowned trainers during the last week, Eduardo Mena and Carlos Cruz.
Mena died on Saturday and was 70 years old. He had suffered from different complications and apparently was defeated by Covid while Cruz was fighting with Cancer.
Mena was a boxer, trainer, and known as the People's Advocate for his unpromoted or rookie boxing events at a company called Sunshine Boxing.
Mena was in the corner of many Panamanian boxers who came to dispute the world title but it was Francisco 'Rocky' Fernández the boxer who made him known when in 1987 he disputed the WBA lightweight crown against South African Bryan Mitchell in the mythical gymnasium Gimnasio Nuevo Panama today named Roberto Duran.
On Thursday Carlos Cruz died, who trained several world champions and coached with another disappeared Panamanian legend, Pellin Avila of the most remembered block and flagship of Panama boxing called ‘Los Sandinistas’ of the late Argentine promoter, Luis Spada.
Mena trained the Venezuelan world champions like Liborio Solís and Yonfrez Parejo and almost all the Venezuelans who took Panama as their second homeland after the emigration process due to the political situation of that country and became a second father for the majority. In addition, it had its promoter Promotions, which organized several booklets.
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