Mexico hasn’t had a huge spot in the early days of boxing history, but nowadays, their fighters dominate the majority of weight classes. This article will focus on the greatest Mexican boxers and the development of this lovely sport in this Latin-American state. There were many high-level Mexican boxers, and it’s time to get to know all of them!
10 Best Mexican Boxers Today
Jessica Nery Plata (28-2-0) is not a knockout artist, but her cardio and tactical aspect of the game are amazing.
Mauricio Lara (25-2-1), Julio Cesar Martinez (18-2-0, 2 NC), Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (44-1-0), and Rey Vargas (36-0-0), are also great Mexican fighters.
Jaime Munguia is a Tijuana native with a tremendous score of 40 wins and zero losses, known for powerful right-hand and top-notch close-range exchanges. He fishes for the finish whenever he gets the opportunity.
Leo Santa Cruz (38-2-1) might be on a downfall right now, but at 33 years of age, this Mexican boxer holds notable over some of the best names in the division.
Oscar Valdez (30-1-0) used to be an undefeated Mexican boxer before his bout against Shakur Stevenson, where the Mexican combo specialist lost via unanimous decision. The two fighters took part in a great bout.
Juan Francisco Estrada (43-3-0) is one of the best title men of the generation. This rematch specialist avenged losses to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Chocolatito Gonzalez.
Canelo Alvarez (58-2-2) is probably the best Mexican born boxer who has ever stepped inside the ring. He is still an active fighter, and reigning defending WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring super middleweight title owner.
Super Featherweight Boxing Rankings
The boxing featherweight division is stacked with Mexican boxing names. The current WBO World featherweight king is Emanuel Navarrete, while the current WBC featherweight title owner is Rey Vargas.
There is another high-level Mexican professional boxer here – Mauricio Lara. Two more promising names from Mexico are Luis Alberto Lopez and Edwin Palomares, which leads to a total score of five Mexican fighters in the top 15!
Heavyweight Boxing Rankings
Interestingly, the heavyweight division had a Mexican descent fighter on the top of the mountain in the past. But aside from Andy Ruiz Jr, there are no fighters from Mexico in the first ten, as the list includes Wilder, Usyk, Joshua, Joyce, Whyte, Ortiz, Parker, Hrgovic, and Sanchez.
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Mexican Boxers
There were many high-level Mexicans in boxing history, but the time has come to list the 12 most successful ones:
- Rodolfo “Baby” Casanova – amazing 81 wins throughout his career. Despite “Baby” having never been on the list of world champions, his bout against Sixto Escobar in 1934 was the beginning of the Mexico vs Puerto Rico heated rivalry.
- Marco Antonio Barrera – “El Barreta” was the champion in three weight classes. Marco Antonio Barrera destroyed some of the greatest warriors of his era – Naseem Hamed, Kennedy McKinney, and Johnny Tapia…
- Erik Morales – “El Terrible” is the first Mexican boxer who won titles in four different weight divisions. Erik Morales, the former owner of world titles in four divisions, scored a decision win over Manny Pacquiao in 2015, which is one of the greatest successes in Mexican boxing history, and the greatest victory of “El Terrible”.
- Ricardo Lopez – Ricardo Lopez defended the title 21 times, which speaks for itself, alongside 51 wins, 38 by the way of a knockout.
- Miguel Canto – Miguel Canto is one of the greatest fighters in the flyweight division, who took the tile away from a Japanese fighter and defended it four times in a row. His ducking skills will be remembered forever.
- Vicente Saldivar – Saldivar is the greatest Mexican boxer who fought from the southpaw stance.
- Alberto “Baby” Arizmendi – Alberto Arizmendi is the former featherweight champion of the world and one of the best cardio machines in the boxing ring. His greatest win is the one over Henry Armstrong.
- Juan Manuel Marquez – Juan Manuel Marquez, or popular “Dinamita”, is one of the rare fighters to hold a victory over both Manny Pacquiao and Barrera. This legendary warrior was one of the toughest guys to beat via majority decision.
- Carlos Zarate – One of the greatest bantamweight division fighters and WBC bantamweight champs ever. Carlos Zarate won 55 straight battles before he was stopped.
- Ruben Olivares – Ruben Olivares is a three time world champion with one of the most dangerous left hooks in the history of boxing. I believe the UFC fighter and middleweight title contender Alex Pereira copycatted this hook from Olivares!
- Julio Cesar Chavez – 107 wins, 86 by the way of a knockout. Julio Cesar Chavez destroyed Tony Lopez, Roger Mayweather, and many other legends. Many fighters rejected to share the ring with him because of his brutal punching power.
- Salvador Sanchez – unfortunately, a fatal car accident stopped his life, but Salvador Sanchez is arguably one of the best counterpunchers ever. He lost only once and turned the lights out on many foes via counters.
Beginnings Of Amateur Boxing In Mexico
Amateur boxing kicked off around the year 1918, in port cities around the Gulf of Mexico, thanks to seafaring mariners. The rings were marked by four chairs at the local bordellos.
In the early stages of amateur match-ups, fighters were wrapping napkins around their fists. The hats would be passed to the fans and spectators to collect the drinking money. The first boxing commission was formed in Tampico in 1921, which brought some rules and regulations to the fight.
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The Development Of Mexican Professional Boxing
The first-ever professional boxer from this state was Miguel Angel Febles (more known as Mike Febles). Febles used to be a jujutsu fighter, yet, he trained in Cuba, in the academy established by the first-ever Chilean professional boxer John Budinich in 1915. Febles returned to Mexico later to continue his professional career.
Officially, the first Mexican boxer to earn a medal in the Olympic Games was Francisco Cabanas Pardo (Los Angeles, USA, 1932).
What Is The Mexican Boxing Style?
Mexican boxers are famous for excellent aggression and offensive aspects of the game, and the majority of them pay minimum attention to defense. The majority of them brawl and trade toe-to-toe shots, fishing for a knockout finish whenever the opportunity comes in the fight.
Great examples of pressure fighters are Rodolfo Martinez, Juan Zurita, Edwin Rosario, Mike Alvarado, Jorge Arce, and many others. New-era fighters (for example, Canelo Alvarez) change levels way more, combining body shots with powerful punches to the head.
Why Are Mexicans So Good At Boxing?
According to Julio Cesar Chavez, the family plays an important role. Mexicans are very good at boxing thanks to the home where they grew up because, according to Chavez, they come from humble families, plus values force them to lean towards boxing at a young age.
Of course, the second reason is the huge number of boxing clubs and great coaches, which leads to the easier creation of a great boxer. the
Is Nate Diaz Mexican?
Nate Diaz was born in Stockton, California, and he’s known for top-notch boxing skills inside the Octagon. Nate is a master of a right hook, combos, and the popular “Stockton slap”, which is a combination of a slap and a hook. This move is his trademark.
Nate Diaz is the son of Melissa (Womble) and Robert Diaz, and he was born of Anglo and Mexican heritage. Nate has Mexican blood in his veins thanks to his father, but unlike Cain Velasquez, the younger Diaz brother competes under the flag of the United States of America.
Who Was First Mexican Boxing Champion?
Raul “Raton” Macias is the first true legendary Mexican champion, who earned a score of 41-2, and 25 KO wins in only 10 years (1952-1962).
He used to hold world titles. Raul was the champ of the National Boxing Association, which later became WBA. He is also known in the history of boxing as “the idol of Tepito”. Unfortunately, he has never gone through the loss to Alphonse Halimi and retired from the boxing scene at a young age.
How Many Mexican Boxers Are In The Hall Of Fame?
There have been many Mexican greats who won tons of titles and world championships but unfortunately, only 14 of them are Hall of Famers at the moment.
How Many World Champions Does Mexico Have?
Canelo Alvarez is an absolute super middleweight king – the owner of The Ring, WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO titles.
Leo Santa Cruz is the WBA featherweight king, while the WBO throne at 122 lbs is reserved for another great name from this state, Emanuel Navarrete.
Juan Francisco Estrada Romero is The Ring super-flyweight champion at the moment, while Julio Cesar Martinez is the WBC world champion in the flyweight division right now.
Who Has Won The Most Mexican League Titles?
The headquarters of WBC (World Boxing Council) is in Mexico City. It kicked off in 1963. There were many WBC belt winners throughout history, but we will look at the greatest in this aspect of the game.
Larry Holmes is a heavyweight WBC God with 16 title defenses in a row. In cruiserweight, Juan Carlos Gomez leads with a score of 10, while in LHW, Bob Foster is the first-placed – 14 title defense.
In super middleweight, Nigel Benn leads with a score of 9. The middleweight God is Marvin Hagler – 12. In super welterweight, Terry Norris wore the belt ten times.
The welterweight winner is Jose Napoles with a score of 10, but the super lightweight God is Mexican – Julio Cesar Chavez (12). Miguel Angel Gonzalez holds the record in lightweight division – 10.
In super featherweight, Alfredo Escalera’s score is 10. The featherweight king is Salvador Sanchez with a score of 9. Wilfredo Gomez has an impressive score in the super bantamweight division – 17.
In bantamweight, we’ve got a Thai former star Veeraphol Sahaprom – 14. The super-flyweight emperor is Moon-Sung Kil from Korea with a score of nine. And another Thai in flyweight, with the more impressive score of 17, he is Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.
The light flyweight winner is the Korean Chang-Jung Koo – 15, while the strawweight spot 1 is reserved for Ricardo Lopez with an impressive score of 21 title defenses.
