The Rivalry: Mexico vs. Puerto Rico

[CutMeMick]

So we can add;

JML-Marquez
Calderon-Segura
WV2-Hernandez
Santiago-Solis
Cintron-Angulo
Alvarez-Cotto
JML-Salido

[greynotsoold]

I'm a white guy, but I grew up watching and in the gym with Mexican fighters. I still get emotional over Zarate vs Gomez...Viva Mexico!

[CutMeMick]

I'm a white guy, but I grew up watching and in the gym with Mexican fighters. I still get emotional over Zarate vs Gomez...Viva Mexico!

Just wish they would have met both at 100%.

But hey no excuses, Gomez won and that's sometimes part of any sport.
An injury, sickness or whatever it may be you just gotta fight thru them somtimes.

I will say that I think Gomez got away with hitting guys while they were already down.
That I've seen and counted it's been in 5 different fights I've seen him hit guys while already down.
When I 1st noticed it was in the Zarate fight and then I did some searching got a hold of about 15 fighs of his and saw it again and again.
Of course I'm not saying Gomez career evolved around this so don't even go there just merely pointing out something I did some research on.
I think I did a thread on the subject of how referees handle something like this in the heat of a fight.

All in all though I have mad love and respect for PR fighters.
For those who have not seen some of these olders fights they are a must see for any boxing fan. Also you gotta check out Bazooka: The battles of Wilfredo Gomez a great documentary.

[greynotsoold]

I'm a white guy, but I grew up watching and in the gym with Mexican fighters. I still get emotional over Zarate vs Gomez...Viva Mexico!

Just wish they would have met both at 100%.

But hey no excuses, Gomez won and that's sometimes part of any sport.
An injury, sickness or whatever it may be you just gotta fight thru them somtimes.

I will say that I think Gomez got away with hitting guys while they were already down.
That I've seen and counted it's been in 5 different fights I've seen him hit guys while already down.
When I 1st noticed it was in the Zarate fight and then I did some searching got a hold of about 15 fighs of his and saw it again and again.
Of course I'm not saying Gomez career evolved around this so don't even go there just merely pointing out something I did some research on.
I think I did a thread on the subject of how referees handle something like this in the heat of a fight.

All in all though I have mad love and respect for PR fighters.
For those who have not seen some of these olders fights they are a must see for any boxing fan. Also you gotta check out Bazooka: The battles of Wilfredo Gomez a great documentary.

Gomez was like Little Red Lopez- once you had them hurt, they became very dangerous. And Gomez had NO respect for the rules of boxing- as in the Pintor fight. Low blows, blatant elbows...but Pintor hurt him and it cost him.

[IamInuit]

It really is something else this rivalry. Theirs nothing in boxing even remotely close. Its actually unbelievable that a country of 3 million could be as dominant as they were/are throughout boxing history.
Have to wonder what the face of boxing today would have looked like if Cuba was in the mix through the mid to late 20th century. A country of about 10 million and an incredible boxing program also.

The rivalry is unparalleled. Here is a paste from a stat page. None of the comments are mine and I'm merely reflecting the rivalry.

Mexico wins:
• Azteca-Kid 2
o The first fight was a draw in the rematch Kid Azteca beat Cocoa Kid by 10 round decision.
• Azteca-Kid 3
o In the third fight Kid Azteca beat Cocoa Kid by 10 round decision.
• Nápoles-Melendez
o Nápoles knocks out David Melendez in the 5th round.
• Chávez-Camacho
o Chávez retains his world Jr. Welterweight title with a 12 round decision. This is Camacho's first real loss. Scorecards 117-111, 119-110, 120-107.
• Chávez-LaPorte
o Chávez retains his WBC Super featherweight title with a unanimous Decision. Scorecards 117-112, 115-114, 114-113.
• Chávez-Rosario
o Chávez wins the world Lightweight title with an 11th round knockout.
• Cuevas-Espada 1
o Cuevas beats Espada for the world Welterweight title,by TKO in the 2nd round
• Cuevas-Espada 2
o Pipino Cuevas knocks out Espada in the 12 Round
• Cuevas-Espada 3
o Cuevas Knocks him out in the 10th Round
• De la Hoya-Camacho
o De la Hoya beats Camacho by unanimous decision to retain the world welterweight title. Scorecards 118-108, 120-106, 120-105.
• Margarito-Cintron 1
o Margarito defends his WBO world Welterweight title against Cintron via a 5th round knockout.
• Margarito-Cintron 2
o In 2008, the two faced off in a rematch this time with Margarito as the challenger Cintron loses his IBF Welterweight title after suffering a 6th round knockout.
• Margarito-Cotto
o Margarito defeats previously undefeated Miguel Cotto via an 11th round knockout to win the WBA welterweight title.(*win is suspect after Margarito got caught with loaded gloves six months later.)
• Lopez-Sanchez
o Ricardo López unifies the WBC and WBO Minimumweight titles by defeating WBO title holder Alex Sanchez via a 5th round knockout. Sanchez was undefeated.
• Rosario-Ramirez 2
o In their rematch Ramirez wins the world title with a 4th round knockout.
• Sánchez-Gómez
o Salvador Sánchez inflicts what many consider the greatest defeat in Puerto Rican boxing history, knocking Gómez out in the 8th round to retain the world Featherweight title.
• Sánchez-LaPorte
o Sanchez defends his WBC Featherweight title against Juan Laporte by unanimous decision. Scorecards 148-142, 146-139, 147-140. The two were scheduled for a rematch but Sanchez was killed in a car accident before the bout took place. LaPorte would go on to win the vacant WBC title shortly after.
• Barrera-Fernandez
o Barrera knocks out Orlando Fernandez in the 7th round defending hes WBO Super Bantamweight Title.
• Corrales-Manfredy
o Corrales knocks out Angel Manfredy in the 3rd Round.
• Lopez-Fuentes
o José Luis López knocks him down in the first round then knocks Sammy Fuentas out in the 2nd.
• Zurita-Escobar
o Juan Zurtia outpoints Sixto Escabar to win a 10 round decision.
• Pérez-Vázquez 1
o Raúl Pérez outpoints Wilfredo Vazquez to win a 10 round decision. Scorecards 91-98, 93-98, 93-96
• Alvarez-Cotto
o Saul Alvarez TKO's Jose Miguel Cotto in the 9th round.
• Segura-Calderon
o Giovanni Segura stops Ivan Calderon in the 8th round.
• Segura-Calderon 2
o Giovanni Segura stops Ivan Calderon in the 3rd round.
• Salido-JuanMa
o Orlando Salido stops Juan Manuel López in the 8th round.

Puerto Rico wins:
• Ortiz-Ramos 1
o WBC declared title vacant pending a rematch, asserting that Conn was favoring Ortiz, giving him the benefit of a long count in the 2d and improperly stopping the match in the 5th round because of a cut to Ramos in the first fight the controversy caused a riot where the ring was torn down, guns were fired and Ortiz had to leave the ring with a bucket over his head.
• Ortiz-Ramos 2
o In the rematch he stopped Ramos in the 4th round.
• Benítez-Palomino
o Benitez wins the world Welterweight title with a 15th round split decision. Scorecards 142-145, 146-143, 146-142.
• Camacho-Limón
o Camacho conquers the world Jr. Lightweight title with a 5th round knockout.
• Camacho-Ramírez
o Camacho conquers the world Lightweight title with a 12 round decision. Scorecards 118-111, 119-109, 119-112.
• Escobar-Casanova
o Escobar becomes the first Puerto Rican world champion, winning the world Bantamweight title over Rodolfo Chango Casanova by 9th round knockout, in the first world title fight between a Puerto Rican and a Mexican.
• Gómez-Zarate
o Gómez retains his world Jr. Featherweight title by 5th round knockout.
• Gómez-Pintor
o Gómez retains the world Jr. Featherweight title with a 14th round knockout in what was described by The Ring as the fight of the 80s at the Jr. Featherweight division.
• Rosario-Ramirez 1
o In their first fight, Rosario conquers the vacant world Lightweight title with a unanimous decision. Scorecards 115-113, 115-113, 115-113.
• Trinidad-Yori Boy Campas
o Trinidad defeats Campas via 4th round knockout. Campas was in his prime at the time with record of 56 wins(50 KO) 0 losses 0 draws.
• Cotto-Gomez
o Cotto defeats Gomez by technical decision in the 5th round.
• Calderon - Cazares 1
o Calderon defeats Cazares via unanimous decision. Scorecards 111-116, 115-112, 115-112.
• Calderon - Cazares 2
o The two fought again which Calderon also won by 7th round Technical decision due to a accidental headbutt. The Scorecards at the time of the stoppage were 67-66, 68-65, 68-65.
• Lopez - Ponce De Leon
o Lopez defeats Ponce de Leon via 1st round knockout.
• Lopez - Luevano
o Lopez defeats Luevano via 7th round knockout.
• Cintron - Angulo
o Cintron gets a 12 round unanimous decision.Scorecards 116-112, 116-112, 116-112.
• Santos - Margarito 2
o Stop due to a cut and Santos gets a 10th round Technical decision.Scorecards 84-87, 85-86, 86-85.

[TitoFan]

It really is something else this rivalry. Theirs nothing in boxing even remotely close. You are 100% correct, bro. The PR-Mexico boxing rivalry is unequaled in the world of sports. Passionate like all hell, too.Its actually unbelievable that a country of 3 million could be as dominant as they were/are throughout boxing history. It's actually closer to 5 million now, but the point is well taken. I did some research a while back and posted some interesting numbers, comparing numbers of world champions and dividing by the country's population, to get an even measuring stick for boxing prowess.
Have to wonder what the face of boxing today would have looked like if Cuba was in the mix through the mid to late 20th century. A country of about 10 million and an incredible boxing program also.

The rivalry is unparalleled. Here is a paste from a stat page. None of the comments are mine and I'm merely reflecting the rivalry.

Mexico wins:
• Azteca-Kid 2
o The first fight was a draw in the rematch Kid Azteca beat Cocoa Kid by 10 round decision.
• Azteca-Kid 3
o In the third fight Kid Azteca beat Cocoa Kid by 10 round decision.
• Nápoles-Melendez
o Nápoles knocks out David Melendez in the 5th round.
• Chávez-Camacho
o Chávez retains his world Jr. Welterweight title with a 12 round decision. This is Camacho's first real loss. Scorecards 117-111, 119-110, 120-107.
• Chávez-LaPorte
o Chávez retains his WBC Super featherweight title with a unanimous Decision. Scorecards 117-112, 115-114, 114-113.
• Chávez-Rosario
o Chávez wins the world Lightweight title with an 11th round knockout.
• Cuevas-Espada 1
o Cuevas beats Espada for the world Welterweight title,by TKO in the 2nd round
• Cuevas-Espada 2
o Pipino Cuevas knocks out Espada in the 12 Round
• Cuevas-Espada 3
o Cuevas Knocks him out in the 10th Round
• De la Hoya-Camacho
o De la Hoya beats Camacho by unanimous decision to retain the world welterweight title. Scorecards 118-108, 120-106, 120-105.
• Margarito-Cintron 1
o Margarito defends his WBO world Welterweight title against Cintron via a 5th round knockout.
• Margarito-Cintron 2
o In 2008, the two faced off in a rematch this time with Margarito as the challenger Cintron loses his IBF Welterweight title after suffering a 6th round knockout.
• Margarito-Cotto
o Margarito defeats previously undefeated Miguel Cotto via an 11th round knockout to win the WBA welterweight title.(*win is suspect after Margarito got caught with loaded gloves six months later.)
• Lopez-Sanchez
o Ricardo López unifies the WBC and WBO Minimumweight titles by defeating WBO title holder Alex Sanchez via a 5th round knockout. Sanchez was undefeated.
• Rosario-Ramirez 2
o In their rematch Ramirez wins the world title with a 4th round knockout.
• Sánchez-Gómez
o Salvador Sánchez inflicts what many consider the greatest defeat in Puerto Rican boxing history, knocking Gómez out in the 8th round to retain the world Featherweight title.
• Sánchez-LaPorte
o Sanchez defends his WBC Featherweight title against Juan Laporte by unanimous decision. Scorecards 148-142, 146-139, 147-140. The two were scheduled for a rematch but Sanchez was killed in a car accident before the bout took place. LaPorte would go on to win the vacant WBC title shortly after.
• Barrera-Fernandez
o Barrera knocks out Orlando Fernandez in the 7th round defending hes WBO Super Bantamweight Title.
• Corrales-Manfredy
o Corrales knocks out Angel Manfredy in the 3rd Round.
• Lopez-Fuentes
o José Luis López knocks him down in the first round then knocks Sammy Fuentas out in the 2nd.
• Zurita-Escobar
o Juan Zurtia outpoints Sixto Escabar to win a 10 round decision.
• Pérez-Vázquez 1
o Raúl Pérez outpoints Wilfredo Vazquez to win a 10 round decision. Scorecards 91-98, 93-98, 93-96
• Alvarez-Cotto
o Saul Alvarez TKO's Jose Miguel Cotto in the 9th round.
• Segura-Calderon
o Giovanni Segura stops Ivan Calderon in the 8th round.
• Segura-Calderon 2
o Giovanni Segura stops Ivan Calderon in the 3rd round.
• Salido-JuanMa
o Orlando Salido stops Juan Manuel López in the 8th round.

Puerto Rico wins:
• Ortiz-Ramos 1
o WBC declared title vacant pending a rematch, asserting that Conn was favoring Ortiz, giving him the benefit of a long count in the 2d and improperly stopping the match in the 5th round because of a cut to Ramos in the first fight the controversy caused a riot where the ring was torn down, guns were fired and Ortiz had to leave the ring with a bucket over his head.
• Ortiz-Ramos 2
o In the rematch he stopped Ramos in the 4th round.
• Benítez-Palomino
o Benitez wins the world Welterweight title with a 15th round split decision. Scorecards 142-145, 146-143, 146-142.
• Camacho-Limón
o Camacho conquers the world Jr. Lightweight title with a 5th round knockout.
• Camacho-Ramírez
o Camacho conquers the world Lightweight title with a 12 round decision. Scorecards 118-111, 119-109, 119-112.
• Escobar-Casanova
o Escobar becomes the first Puerto Rican world champion, winning the world Bantamweight title over Rodolfo Chango Casanova by 9th round knockout, in the first world title fight between a Puerto Rican and a Mexican.
• Gómez-Zarate
o Gómez retains his world Jr. Featherweight title by 5th round knockout.
• Gómez-Pintor
o Gómez retains the world Jr. Featherweight title with a 14th round knockout in what was described by The Ring as the fight of the 80s at the Jr. Featherweight division.
• Rosario-Ramirez 1
o In their first fight, Rosario conquers the vacant world Lightweight title with a unanimous decision. Scorecards 115-113, 115-113, 115-113.
• Trinidad-Yori Boy Campas
o Trinidad defeats Campas via 4th round knockout. Campas was in his prime at the time with record of 56 wins(50 KO) 0 losses 0 draws.
• Cotto-Gomez
o Cotto defeats Gomez by technical decision in the 5th round.
• Calderon - Cazares 1
o Calderon defeats Cazares via unanimous decision. Scorecards 111-116, 115-112, 115-112.
• Calderon - Cazares 2
o The two fought again which Calderon also won by 7th round Technical decision due to a accidental headbutt. The Scorecards at the time of the stoppage were 67-66, 68-65, 68-65.
• Lopez - Ponce De Leon
o Lopez defeats Ponce de Leon via 1st round knockout.
• Lopez - Luevano
o Lopez defeats Luevano via 7th round knockout.
• Cintron - Angulo
o Cintron gets a 12 round unanimous decision.Scorecards 116-112, 116-112, 116-112.
• Santos - Margarito 2
o Stop due to a cut and Santos gets a 10th round Technical decision.Scorecards 84-87, 85-86, 86-85.

Tremendous post bro..... and kudos for the stats. Yes, the rivalry has a long and storied history. Few things get my heart pounding quite like a PR-Mexico championship fight.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

That is an outstanding rivalry. But why is it a rivalry?