As a boxer, Rosendo ‘El Bufalo’ Alvarez remains best known for title reigns in two divisions and coming closer than any other athlete to hanging on a loss on the legendary Ricardo Lopez.
It’s his latest work as a promoter, though, which will resonate for quite some time with this generation of boxing fans.
The former two-division champ from Managua, Nicaragua carried the honor of presenting the first boxing event to air live on American airwaves during the coronavirus disease pandemic. The feat was accomplished this past Saturday, with ESPN Deportes (along with Canal 6 in Nicaragua) carrying what wound up becoming a five-fight telecast live from Polodeportivo Alexis Arguello in Managua.
The absence of a stay-home order made it possible to proceed with the first stateside televised boxing event since March 13, which saw a Showtime ShoBox card take place without fans in attendance in Hinckley, Minnesota. Also that evening was the last U.S. televised show in front of a crowd, with Felix ‘Tutico’ Zabala Jr’s All-Star Boxing presenting the 2020 spring season premiere of Boxeo Telemundo live from Mexico City.
“Here we don’t fear the coronavirus, and there is no quarantine,” Alvarez insisted during a recent interview with the Associated Press. “The three [reported] deaths came from outside [Nicaragua] and nobody within the country has been contaminated.”
Despite relaxed policies within Nicaragua, everyone from the boxers to ring and event officials down to spectators were required to submit to an onsite health screening prior to gaining entrance into the venue. Among the observers who willingly complied was four-division and current 115-pound titlist Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez, one of the greatest to ever come out of the nation but who was found amongst the everyday sports fan as he entered through the general area.
Fans were required to remain at least six feet apart and seated sporadically throughout the venue. An estimated 800 people were in attendance, putting the 8,000-seat venue at roughly 10% capacity.
The show featured two rematches, including the main event, where Robin Zamora (15-7, 8KOs) outpointed Ramiro Blanco (18-7-3, 10KOs) over eight entertaining rounds six months after having scored a 2nd round stoppage in their first fight. At least two upsets took place on the undercard, including Bryan Perez (12-11, 11KOs) ending a 10-fight winless streak in stopping Lesther Lara (16-11-2, 7KOs) in two rounds for his first victory since August 2017.
Byron Castellon provided the second upset of the evening, showing perseverance of the highest order in his six-round points win over Eliezer Gazo (18-10-2, 3KOs). The significance of the win came in that it was the seventh time they’ve fought, with Gazo going 4-0-1 (1NC) in their previous six encounters.
All 16 boxers on the card were nationally based, which will have to be the case for any boxing event in the near future given travel restrictions and CDC (Center for Disease Control) regulations.
“Nicaragua is a poor country and the boxers have to eat. They can’t stay [enclosed] in their house,” Alvarez stated as the main motivation behind staging the event.
None of the evening’s participants, officials or patrons were tested for COVID-19, according to reports which cited the absence of showing symptoms or health issues as justification. Nicaragua as a nation has reported just 13 total positive test cases, the most recent coming on April 24. Of the 13, seven have fully recovered while claiming three deaths. The figures put Nicaragua on the very low end of global results, although it has been noted that such low totals are attributable to the lack of sufficient testing as the nation has not published the total number of citizens actually tested for the infectious disease.
Alvarez fought as a pro from 1992-2006, along with an ill-advised one-fight comeback in 2012 before retiring for good. He left the ring with 37-4-2 (24KOs), along with a combined 6 ½ years as a title claimant at strawweight and junior flyweight.
For all of his career accolades, Alvarez remains best known for two fights where he failed to produce a win. There’s no shame in that feat, as he provided Mexico’s Lopez with the two toughest fights of his career, holding the Hall of Famer to a disputed technical draw in their March 1998 strawweight unification clash (also for Lopez’s lineal championship) between unbeaten titlists. Alvarez suffered his first career defeat in the rematch, dropping a heartbreaking split decision later that November in one of the best fights of the year.
Since retiring in 2012, Alvarez has remained active on the promotional side with Bufalo Boxing Promotions having regularly staged shows since 2013 in his home country.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox