The Guadalajara Reporter

Jalisco’s favorite red-headed fighter, ‘Canelo,’ notches his 40th win as critics say he’s not busy enough in the ring

Jalisco’s 21-year-old Saul “Canelo” Alvarez retained his WBC Light MiddleWeight Championship title, Saturday, May 5, defeating six-time world champion Shane Mosley. Mosley, at 40, had just begun to show the wear-and-tear of a long, successful career in his last three fights. Yet many pundits, especially in Mexico, had suggested Canelo would have trouble with Mosley’s well-known hard punching and ring savvy.

Among a group of friends watching the bout Saturday (four Mexicans, two gringos), the long, 2,000-year history and centuries of boxing literature on the sport were discussed before, during and after the fight. Boxing came to the United States early on — much later to Mexico — from England, which adopted the sport when the Romans invaded in the first century.

It’s not only the long list of superb British fighters that prompts admiration of England’s history of accomplishment in boxing, but the excellent written record regarding England’s early cultivation of organized prize fighting. (Pierce Egan’s four volume “Boxiana,” and “The Fight” by William Hazlitt, April 10, 1778-September 18, 1830, enter the conversation.)

In Mexico, informed aficionados point out that boxing was brought by British and U.S. sailors to communities along the Gulf of Mexico, getting a foothold in the early part of the 20th century. It had to compete with la corrida de Toros (bullfighting) and equestrian contests — both brought here by the conquistadores  — which were hugely popular nationwide, and, in large cities, extravagantly presented.

In Britain, boxing began with the 55 B.C. arrival of the Romans, lead by Julius Caesar. The earliest forms of pugilism appeared afterwards. Bare knuckle and no-holds-barred (which meant wrestling was included) contests were first recorded there in the 1700s. These were tough bouts in which eye-gouging, choking, throwing and kicking were not prohibited. The ring was truly a ring then — never a square — made up of a circle of spectators. These bouts often lasted for hours until one of the participants couldn’t or chose not to continue. These contests were popular primarily with the working class of the British Isles, say historians. Often, they were a way of settling disputes.

Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.