Mexico De Mi Sueno
By Manny Piñol
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 08 Jul 2011
Aside from the beautiful senoritas and in spite of the feared drug cartels, there are so many reasons why I have a special feeling and deep admiration for Mexico.
First, I have an emotional attachment with Mexico. When I was young, I was endlessly amazed at a simple stone mill which my grandfather used in grinding cacao into delicious "chocolate." That stone grinder is called metate and it was only when I grew older when I learned that the metate of my grandfather actually came from Mexico.
Second, religion and history make Mexico so close to the Philippines. During the Spanish period, the predominantly Catholic Philippines was under the Diocese of Mexico and the Galleon Trade, cargo ships which plied the Manila-Acapulco route, gave us our first corn seeds from Mexico while we gifted Mexico (including Cuba) with its sweetest mango variety is called Mango Manila.
Third, whenever I am in Mexico, I get to practice my fractured Espanol which I learned through Spanish 101 and Spanish 102 during my college days. It feels good to be able to speak Spanish, never mind the lapses in conjugation.
But the main reason why I admire Mexico and its people, aside from their natural warmth and friendliness, is their passion for cockfighting and boxing, not to mention soccer.
I am endlessly amazed at how crazy Mexicans are over these three sports, especially boxing.
In the four times that I was in Mexico because of boxing events (I have been to Mexico six times), I have always been so fascinated by the support of the people for local boxing.
The adulation that they have for their local boxing heroes is something I dream of seeing in the Philippines where critical boxing fans would cruelly crucify local boxers who do not perform as well as expected.
I have been involved in boxing for so long to understand that upcoming boxing prospects have to be given "build up" fights to improve their fight records and strengthen their confidence.
I have seen these fights in Mexico. Upcoming stars are matched against certified journeymen whose record would be as bad as 4 wins and 20 losses but the local fans would still roar in excitement whenever the prospects score knockouts.
Little boys, and even young girls, whose hands are held by their fathers, would ask foreign boxers, especially Filipinos, for a photo opportunity, and beg for autographs even from still unknown boxers like Edrin Dapudong.
They cheer for their own boxers and boo foreign fighters at the beginning of the fight, but show sympathy and respect when they see how brave the visiting boxers are or when they feel that they have been cheated.
In Dapudong's last fight in Mexico, which was stopped prematurely by Mexican-American referee Raul Caiz, Jr. following a flush knockdown scored by local boy Hernan Marquez, local fans applauded the defeated Filipino challenger while many more asked for souvenir photographs with Edrin.
In fact, in one of the most controversial fights that featured Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. and American Matt Vanda held in Hermosillo in 2008, Mexican boxing fans showed their displeasure with the split decision win scored by the young Chavez by throwing coins at their own boxer hitting even the legendary Julio Cesar Sr., the young boxer's father.
It is this huge following for boxing in Mexico that encourages big corporate sponsors to splurge their advertising money on boxing events enabling local promoters to stage as many as four world championships every month.
Tecate, Corona and Telcel are among the most aggressive Mexican companies in boxing promotions and they are reaping dividends as their popularity extends to the big market of America.
Their support has enabled Mexico to produce over a dozen reigning world champions, more boxing champions than any other country in the world. And these champions get to defend their titles as frequently as every two months.
Fighting for a world title or defending a world title in Mexico gives the local boxers an inherent advantage in acclimatization and conditioning, not to mention the little tricks long accepted as a fact of life in boxing like adjusting the scales and giving the opponent a thicker pair of gloves.
What really astounds me is the reverence Mexican boxing fans show their former world champions. In our last fight in Mexico, I saw how Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr. was chased by fans asking for autographs.
In the Philippines, we forget our champions after they have lost their titles. We hardly even care if they get paid or not as in the case of Luisito Espinosa.
I love how Mexicans enjoy life and the see the positive things.
The desert is very hot in summer, the drug cartels are dangerous and deadly, and the social divide between Spanish Mexicans and Indian Mexicans cuts the air, but they love boxing and they love life.
If only Philippine boxing would have half of the following and support that the sport has in Mexico, we would certainly have more boxing champions and lesser sad stories of defeat to hear.
I can only dream of Mexico.
Photo: A young Mexican kid asks autograph from Dapudong.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Manny Piñol.
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