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LOS ANGELES (Sept. 7)…Throughout the history of boxing, generations of family members have come together to watch the sweet science. Whether it was fathers and sons watching fights together or grandfathers buying tickets to take their grandsons to stadiums or arenas, the sport has always been a family affair. Now, with top pay-per-view events being televised live nationwide, it’s not uncommon for three generations (or more) to gather in the same room and share in the thrills of major prize fights.
This is certainly true with boxing’s massive Mexican and Mexican-American fan bases and it’s no accident that there’s a major fight card on the Saturday of Mexican Independence Day weekend every year. It’s an ideal night for bringing these families together and this year is no different with“STAR POWER: Mayweather vs. Ortiz” Saturday, Sept. 17 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as well as STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. This event will provide the kind of ultra high quality fight card from top to bottom that offers something for fans of every generation.
Maybe Grandpa doesn’t yet know and love the new stars of the fight game, but he certainly knows and loves Erik “El Terible” Morales. With the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez long retired, Morales now represents the “old guard” of Mexican warriors, a blood-and-guts aggressor from the traditional all-action Mexican mold who has been delighting audiences for more than 18 years. He is a throwback to whoever was the most popular Mexican fighter of the older fan’s youth, whether that was Kid Azteca, Ruben Olivares, Carlos Zarate or Salvador Sanchez. For fans who love Morales, his fight on Sept. 17 against knockout-minded Lucas Matthysse might feel like the main event of the evening.
For slightly younger fans, those in their twenties perhaps, it’s rising star “Vicious” Victor Ortizwho might be their favorite. Ortiz, a Kansas-born, California-based Mexican-American who faces the challenge of a lifetime against the best in Floyd Mayweather in the evening’s main event, is the fighter who’s been developing in front of our eyes for the last five years, rising from prospect to contender to champion. If he defeats Mayweather, he’ll instantly become the hottest Hispanic attraction in all of boxing.
However, what if you’re a little younger, a Mexican or Mexican-American teenager or a pre-teen kid beginning to follow in Dad and Granddad’s footsteps as a fight fan? Then your favorite is probably Guadalajara’s Canelo Alvarez, the undefeated super welterweight sensation who’ll be headlining STAPLES Center portion of the event against Mexican-American veteran Alfonso Gomez. If there’s a young woman at the family pay-per-view gathering, you’d better believe Canelo is the fighter on this card who will grab her attention.
If that’s not enough, don’t forget Jessie Vargas, the unbeaten 22-year-old from Las Vegas who represented Mexico in the 2008 Olympics. Like Alvarez and Ortiz, he’s a star of the future that today’s kids might be telling their grandchildren about in the future.
For many years, Oscar de la Hoya’s fights were associated with the Mexican Independence Day weekend. There was his domination of Hector Camacho in ’97, his rematch with the iconic Chavez in ’98, his superfight with Felix Trinidad in ’99 that set the record at the time for a non-heavyweight fight with 1.4 million pay per view buys, his grudge match with Fernando Vargas in ’02, his second fight with Shane Mosley in ’03 and his challenge of Bernard Hopkins in ’04. Prior to De La Hoya’s rise, the holiday weekend belonged to Chavez; he fought Mario Martinez in ’84, Lonnie Smith in ’91, Camacho in ’92, Meldrick Taylor in a rematch in ’94, David Kamau in ’95 and finally De La Hoya in ’98. De La Hoya and Chavez both fought six times in headlining bouts on Mexican Independence Day weekend.
In more recent years, the weekend has been spread among other beloved Mexican fighters. Marco Antonio Barrera defeated Robbie Peden in ’05 and Rocky Juarez in ’06. Juan Manuel Marquez took center stage against Joel Casamayor in ’08 and Mayweather in ’09. In 2010, both Canelo Alvarez and Victor Ortiz turned in show-stealing performances on the undercard of the event topped by Mosley’s fight with Sergio Mora.
Major boxing events are a great Mexican Independence Day weekend tradition and this year, it will be a tradition that the whole family-every generation-will enjoy. From the opening bout until Mayweather and Ortiz are in the ring and Michael Buffer is bellowing “Let’s get ready to rumble!,”STAR POWER is precisely the type of event fans have come to expect on Mexican Independence Day weekend.
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