Top Men: Greatest Mexican Boxers
Fight fans are avidly looking forward to this Saturday night as we have what should be an amazing all-action, all-Mexico showdown between two blood-and-guts warriors, Orlando Salido and Francisco Vargas. If ever there was a potential Fight of the Year match-up, this is it. Salido and Vargas are two of the sport’s most entertaining battlers and when one considers that Mexican pride is on the line, hell, there’s a better than even chance this scrap could crack our list of the greatest Mexico vs Mexico fights in boxing history.
Salido and Vargas both come to rumble every time out, giving fight fans plenty of excitement, and both have been in their share of Fight of the Year candidates. Salido, clearly one of the most exciting warriors in boxing today, has provided epic action in his clashes with Juanma Lopez, Terdsak Kokietgym and Roman Martinez, while last year’s consensus Fight of the Year was the sensational war between Vargas and Takashi Miura.
So with two Mexican gladiators colliding on Saturday night, it’s definitely an appropriate time for Patrick Connor and Aris Pina to discuss some boxing history, Mexican style. What serious fight fan doesn’t want to swap stories and recollections about all-time greats like Carlos Zarate, Ruben Olivares, Erik Morales, Salvador Sanchez and Julio Cesar Chavez, not to mention “The Mexican Skull-Crusher“? Or what about Baby Arizmendi? Or Ricardo “El Finito” Lopez? The list of Hall of Fame Mexican warriors is a long one.
In fact, the vexing question of just who are the greatest boxers ever to emerge from south of the Rio Grande was the subject of a lively debate on this website not long ago between Messrs. Carbert and Garcia, the latter being a proud bearer of Mexican blood. And at that time Garcia wrote most evocatively of just what it means to be a true “Mexican style” pugilist:
“The Platonic Mexican Fighter is offensive-minded, a come-forward warrior who loves to mix it up. Deft at combination punching, he prefers infighting to a round-the-ring chess match, and never, under any circumstance, will he shy away from proving the quality of his exceptional chin. Call it machismo, call it #MexicanStyle, or call it cojones, but that’s exactly what everyone thinks about when they think Mexican boxing.”
So without further ado, Messrs. Connor and Pina on The Greatest Mexican Fighters Ever. Sit back, pour yourself a cerveza, and enjoy:
Follow Patrick and Aris on Twitter: @PatrickMConnor & @PunchZoneAris. And click here for all the Top Men Boxing Radio episodes you’ve missed and get caught up on your boxing history and fight news.
