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[Alibata]

Rolando Navarette could've been a Philippine great but his lifestyle got to him.

Here is Limon vs. Navarette. Champ in the ring first go to show that the guy with the better support gets preferential treatment. Commentating wasn't quite as biased yet then as they are now though. Pinoys have a strong following now. This fight was a war!!

http://asianboxing.blogspot.com/2007/07/video-of-week-rolando-navarette-vs.html

[#1Assassin]

[gingeralbino]

Northern Irish World Champions i can think of of hand:
Barry Mcguigan
Wayne McCullough

Thats about it unless you wanna count WBU and IBO belts!

There's bound to be more older ones i cant think of (hopefully) Feel free to fill me in if anyone knows!

Pretty depressing really

[nouseforaname]

I just found this article, it's about Mexican / Mexican-American fighters, Mexico's got a long story of great fighters, it would take me a while to write it myself, so instead and since i'm at work, i came up with this lazy ass post, sorry.


Mexican Boxing: Our Pride and Passion0

By Juan Angel Zurita (October 1, 2003) - Growing up in a Mexican-American family in Southern California exposed me to many things. Rice, beans, tortillas, menudo, ceviche, piñatas, Chapulin Colorado, El Chavo Del Ocho, and rancheritas were only a few of the many experiences that I had while growing up in such a household. Sports were also a big thing in my family. As a kid growing up into a teen, I have many memories of my abuelito watching baseball/soccer games whenever I’d go over for a visit. However, I particularly recall the times when he was glued to the television watching boxing.

I don’t recall there being a die-hard boxing fanatic in the family, but for some reason the presence of the sport always existed throughout the household. It was just part of our culture.

Around the age of 10, I began to hear my grandfather and uncles raving about this new Mexican kid that was beginning to make a name for himself in the sport. That fighter’s name was Julio Cesar Chavez. Chavez would eventually become the fighter that would lure me, my family, and our whole culture back into the sport of boxing.

Mexican/Mexican-Americans have never been so boxing crazy than when Chavez was in his prime. It was a huge event whenever Chavez was in a big fight. I remember hearing neighbors, people at the grocery stores, barbers, and many others getting worked up about Chavez’ upcoming fights. I definitely had the best of both worlds, as I was exposed to the Mexican/Mexican-American boxing craze in San Diego, CA, 5 minutes from the San Diego/Tijuana border crossing (San Ysidro border crossing to be exact).

Today, the Chavez glory years are long gone, but Mexican boxing lives on. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans continue to make up a large chunk of the boxing fanatic population. Fighters like Rodolfo Chango Casanova, Jose Toluco Lopez, Baby Arizmendi, Jose Becerra, Miguel Canto, Vicente Saldivar, Carlos Zarate, Alfonso Zamora, and Ruben Olivares helped paved the background for Mexican boxing. Salvador Sanchez, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Ricardo Lopez have since solidified its impact on the sport. Today, Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas, Erik Morales, and Marco Antonio Barrera, continue to carry the torch.

Boxing’s continued popularity amongst Hispanics, particularly Mexicans, can be witnessed at today’s biggest boxing matches. Outside of the heavyweight division, if two non-Hispanic fighters are set to battle in a “superfight”, attendance is usually poor. It doesn’t matter if two very good fighters are facing each other. Ricardo Mayorga vs. Vernon Forrest is a recent example of a significant bout that didn’t draw as well as it should have. Even proven name fighters such as Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Kostya Tsyzu struggle to fill the arenas and attract fans to watch their fights.

Due to boxing’s decline in popularity since the 80’s, many of the matchups which do include Mexican and Mexican-American superstars, don’t sellout, but significantly do better in ticket sales and in television ratings when compared to other matchups which don’t include this combination. Today, If you ask a boxing fanatic that has been to a handful of fights, he or she will attest that fights which include Mexican/Mexican-American superstars are almost always the most electrifying, exciting, and overall the most enjoyable. It’s the enthusiasm and pride of the Mexican/Mexican-American fan base that creates this unreplicable element. Some past and recent examples of bouts which have produced this element, include any major Mexican/Puerto-Rican rivalry, Chavez/Taylor, Chavez/Haugen, Barrera/Morales, and Barrera/Hamed.

Personally, not many feelings compare to the energetic rush that I experience during a boxing match with an arena filled with other Mexican/Mexican-American boxing fans. When I hear the rancherita ring walk music or when I see the beautiful green, white, and red, something inside of me explodes. It’s a very powerful feeling. It’s pride, fervor, and machismo wrapped up into one feeling. One has to experience it to understand it. Goosebumps don’t even compare.

I guess the reason many of us feel this way is because boxing is a sport that allows us to show off our tremendous pride. Outside of soccer, Mexicans don’t really excel in any other sport. What better sport to excel in than one that allows a whole culture to exercise its culture’s machismo? For Mexican/Mexican-American boxing fans, it is very important that our ring warriors proudly represent our people and our culture. It allows us to identify with something positive, something victorious.

It goes without saying that Mexicans and Mexican-Americans have always done well for themselves in the sport of boxing, but in the last 20-25 years there has been a huge outbreak in terms of the level of talent that has developed. Could this be the reason why many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans remain interested in the sport? I tend to believe that it has more to do with our love for the nature of the sport.

We continue to love this sport because it represents us with an unrivaled passion. No other sport makes us feel this great about ourselves. Not many sports bring an entire culture together. Boxing is the exception.

On those big fight nights when a fellow “Raza” is representing, it allows us to be a part of something special and borderline mythical. This is Mexican/Mexican-American boxing. We wouldn’t trade it for the world.

[D-Omonist]

Northern Irish World Champions i can think of of hand:
Barry Mcguigan
Wayne McCullough

Thats about it unless you wanna count WBU and IBO belts!

There's bound to be more older ones i cant think of (hopefully) Feel free to fill me in if anyone knows!

Pretty depressing really

Thank you for the info!!!! Do you know if there are any vids of these two??? If you can post them here!

[D-Omonist]

I just found this article, it's about Mexican / Mexican-American fighters, Mexico's got a long story of great fighters, it would take me a while to write it myself, so instead and since i'm at work, i came up with this lazy ass post, sorry.


Mexican Boxing: Our Pride and Passion0

By Juan Angel Zurita (October 1, 2003) - Growing up in a Mexican-American family in Southern California exposed me to many things. Rice, beans, tortillas, menudo, ceviche, piñatas, Chapulin Colorado, El Chavo Del Ocho, and rancheritas were only a few of the many experiences that I had while growing up in such a household. Sports were also a big thing in my family. As a kid growing up into a teen, I have many memories of my abuelito watching baseball/soccer games whenever I’d go over for a visit. However, I particularly recall the times when he was glued to the television watching boxing.

I don’t recall there being a die-hard boxing fanatic in the family, but for some reason the presence of the sport always existed throughout the household. It was just part of our culture.

Around the age of 10, I began to hear my grandfather and uncles raving about this new Mexican kid that was beginning to make a name for himself in the sport. That fighter’s name was Julio Cesar Chavez. Chavez would eventually become the fighter that would lure me, my family, and our whole culture back into the sport of boxing.

Mexican/Mexican-Americans have never been so boxing crazy than when Chavez was in his prime. It was a huge event whenever Chavez was in a big fight. I remember hearing neighbors, people at the grocery stores, barbers, and many others getting worked up about Chavez’ upcoming fights. I definitely had the best of both worlds, as I was exposed to the Mexican/Mexican-American boxing craze in San Diego, CA, 5 minutes from the San Diego/Tijuana border crossing (San Ysidro border crossing to be exact).

Today, the Chavez glory years are long gone, but Mexican boxing lives on. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans continue to make up a large chunk of the boxing fanatic population. Fighters like Rodolfo Chango Casanova, Jose Toluco Lopez, Baby Arizmendi, Jose Becerra, Miguel Canto, Vicente Saldivar, Carlos Zarate, Alfonso Zamora, and Ruben Olivares helped paved the background for Mexican boxing. Salvador Sanchez, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Ricardo Lopez have since solidified its impact on the sport. Today, Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas, Erik Morales, and Marco Antonio Barrera, continue to carry the torch.

Boxing’s continued popularity amongst Hispanics, particularly Mexicans, can be witnessed at today’s biggest boxing matches. Outside of the heavyweight division, if two non-Hispanic fighters are set to battle in a “superfight”, attendance is usually poor. It doesn’t matter if two very good fighters are facing each other. Ricardo Mayorga vs. Vernon Forrest is a recent example of a significant bout that didn’t draw as well as it should have. Even proven name fighters such as Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Kostya Tsyzu struggle to fill the arenas and attract fans to watch their fights.

Due to boxing’s decline in popularity since the 80’s, many of the matchups which do include Mexican and Mexican-American superstars, don’t sellout, but significantly do better in ticket sales and in television ratings when compared to other matchups which don’t include this combination. Today, If you ask a boxing fanatic that has been to a handful of fights, he or she will attest that fights which include Mexican/Mexican-American superstars are almost always the most electrifying, exciting, and overall the most enjoyable. It’s the enthusiasm and pride of the Mexican/Mexican-American fan base that creates this unreplicable element. Some past and recent examples of bouts which have produced this element, include any major Mexican/Puerto-Rican rivalry, Chavez/Taylor, Chavez/Haugen, Barrera/Morales, and Barrera/Hamed.

Personally, not many feelings compare to the energetic rush that I experience during a boxing match with an arena filled with other Mexican/Mexican-American boxing fans. When I hear the rancherita ring walk music or when I see the beautiful green, white, and red, something inside of me explodes. It’s a very powerful feeling. It’s pride, fervor, and machismo wrapped up into one feeling. One has to experience it to understand it. Goosebumps don’t even compare.

I guess the reason many of us feel this way is because boxing is a sport that allows us to show off our tremendous pride. Outside of soccer, Mexicans don’t really excel in any other sport. What better sport to excel in than one that allows a whole culture to exercise its culture’s machismo? For Mexican/Mexican-American boxing fans, it is very important that our ring warriors proudly represent our people and our culture. It allows us to identify with something positive, something victorious.

It goes without saying that Mexicans and Mexican-Americans have always done well for themselves in the sport of boxing, but in the last 20-25 years there has been a huge outbreak in terms of the level of talent that has developed. Could this be the reason why many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans remain interested in the sport? I tend to believe that it has more to do with our love for the nature of the sport.

We continue to love this sport because it represents us with an unrivaled passion. No other sport makes us feel this great about ourselves. Not many sports bring an entire culture together. Boxing is the exception.

On those big fight nights when a fellow “Raza” is representing, it allows us to be a part of something special and borderline mythical. This is Mexican/Mexican-American boxing. We wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Great inspiring read! Thank you!!!! Without Mexico boxing wouldn't be what it is today. Great warriors there!

[gingeralbino]

Thank you for the info!!!! Do you know if there are any vids of these two??? If you can post them here!

Wayne McCullough was involved in wars with Prince Naseem (was a war until Naz realised he couldnt knock him out), Morales (ones of the best fights i've seen) and had a brutal one fight with Scott Harrsion. That was horrible to watch towards the end, should have been stopped.
He was never knocked down in his whole career. One of the best chins in boxing history.

Heres the Morales fight.

[PRPOWERPUNCHES]

Boxing in Puerto Rico

Boxing in Puerto Rico can be traced from the ceremonial competitions amongst the pre-Columbian Native Americans of the Arawak also known as Taíno tribes which inhabited the island to the modern era in which sports activities consist of an organized physical activity or skill carried out with a recreational purpose for competition.


Pre-Columbian era

View of the Indigenous ballparks in the TibesThe Taínos who inhabited Puerto Rico before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, played a series of games which were both ceremonial and diversional, such as races, contests involving body strength and fishing. However, the two most important of these sports were the simulated warrior fights (similar to the gladiators) and ball playing.

[gingeralbino]

here's a clip of Barry fighting Pedroza taking his world title



Barry was involved in a tragic fight early in his career when he KOd Young Ali in the 6th, Ali fell into coma and died 6 moths later. He nearly quit boxing, but decided to continue and went on to become world champion 3 years later

[Alibata]

Here is a similar article from ESPN

look at the history of boxing in the Philippines
At the turn of the 20th century, Filipino martial arts were not just sports; they were techniques for survival. Three Americans, however, found a way to attract Filipino crowds by creating American-style Filipino boxers. The rest was history.
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Stradley By Don Stradley
Special to ESPN.com
Archive

Pacquiao FansJOEL NITO/AFP/Getty ImagesWhen Manny Pacquiao fights, the Philippines stand still. But PacMan isn't the first fighter to capture the island's imagination.
Manny Pacquiao has thrilled boxing fans around the world, but that's not enough for him.

"It's very important to me and my country to put my name into boxing history," Pacquiao said last week, referring to his upcoming challenge of WBA lightweight titlist David Diaz.

But Pacquiao is already part of history. In a way, Pacquiao's achievements are the culmination of a 100-year cultural journey that encompassed martial arts, Spanish oppression and Yankee influence, all of which combined to create Filipino boxing as we know it today.

Perhaps most important to the evolution of boxing on the islands was the unified vision of three men: Frank Churchill and the Tait brothers, Stewart and Eddie.

Lethal Combination
TV lineup up for the HBO PPV card on Saturday night (9 ET) from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas:

• Lightweights: David Diaz (34-1-1, 17 KOs) vs. Manny Pacquiao (46-3-2, 34 KOs), 12 rounds, for Diaz's title

• Featherweights: Steven Luevano (35-1, 15 KOs) vs. Mario Santiago (19-1, 14 KOs), 12 rounds, for Luevano's title

• Heavyweights: Tye Fields (40-1, 35 KOs) vs. Monte Barrett (33-6, 19 KOs), 10 rounds

• Junior lightweights: Humberto Soto (43-6-2, 27 KOs) vs. Francisco Lorenzo (32-4, 14 KOs), 12 rounds, for a vacant interim title

-- Dan Rafael

Eddie Tait landed in Manila in 1902, less than four years after the Philippines had declared independence from Spain. Despite the unsanitary conditions, Eddie saw what mobster Bugsy Siegel would later see in Las Vegas: wide open potential.

Tait's brother Stewart was an amusement park entrepreneur back home in Tacoma, Wash. Soon the brothers were known as the "Barnums of Borneo," establishing circuses, carnivals and horse racing tracks in Manila.

Eddie Tait was also interested in boxing, but prizefighting had been banned in the Philippines. Frank Churchill, a fellow Tacoma boy, had promoted bootleg bouts in Manila, but fights involving American servicemen didn't attract locals.

Filipinos had their own sort of boxing, a bare-handed martial art known as Suntukan. The combatants held their hands high and kept their distance, occasionally charging forward to throw chopping punches, most of which would be fouls not tolerated in American rings.

There are many theories regarding the origins of Suntukan (also known as Panantukan), but it's generally believed to have evolved from Kali, a Filipino knife fighting technique. As the Philippines fell under Spanish rule, Filipino martial arts were driven underground. Knives and rattan sticks gave way to bare-handed arts.

Some historians have romanticized Suntukan as being the real root of modern boxing, but that's an over-simplification.

"The Filipinos must have embraced Western boxing and then applied their knowledge of the knife to create a similar, yet distinctive art," said martial arts teacher and historian Krishna Godhania.

One difference between the Filipino martial art and modern boxing is that practitioners of Suntukan didn't stand and trade head shots. Instead, they circled constantly, looking for openings. After all, one wouldn't stand and trade if you were holding knives. In Filipino martial arts, the spirit of the knife was still implied.

Another important distinction is that Filipino martial arts were not just sports; they were techniques for survival.

Eddie Tait's plan was to attract Filipino crowds by creating American-style Filipino boxers. A 1932 AP storywriter Russ Newland described Tait, and American lightweight Rufe Turner, giving free boxing lessons to the locals. Sounding as if Tait was feeding him lines directly from a barker's booth, Newland wrote, "By now, every other Filipino wants to be a fighter."

But even before that time, the islanders knew a thing or two about western boxing. As far back as the 1890s, Filipino war prisoners were taught how to box by U.S. guards. Also, Filipino men were being hired to work in the kitchens of U.S. navy ships, where amateur bouts were often held on ship decks.

[+] EnlargePancho Villa
Topical Press Agency/Getty ImagesPancho Villa was one of the boys eager to join the Olympic Boxing Club.
While Tait hustled the sweet science like snake oil, Churchill established the Olympic Club, described by some as a converted ****-fighting pit, complete with a thatched roof and bamboo poles, followed by the more grandiose Olympic Stadium in Manila, which opened for business in 1918.

By 1921, boxing was legalized and flourishing in the Philippines. Churchill hired Stewart Tait to manage the Olympic's finances, and Eddie acted as matchmaker. Joe Waterman, another promoter stationed on the islands during the first World War, acted as a scout who would send young talents to Churchill.

According to legend, the first Filipino to fight publicly wearing gloves was Churchill's driver, Leoncio Bernabe, in 1916. The teen, whose job was to pull Churchill around Manila in a rickshaw-like contraption, made his debut at the Olympic, where Wednesday nights were reserved for inexperienced locals.

"These boys would storm the club on Wednesday night, begging for a chance to go on," Churchill said in 1924. "Many of them didn't have enough money to buy an outfit of ring togs, so we always kept a supply of trunks, shoes, etc., available for them. Lots of 'em wouldn't use shoes. They were accustomed to going barefoot and shoes cramped their style."

From this wave of eager beginners emerged such stars as Speedy Dado, the Flores brothers Francisco, Elino, Macario and Ireneo, Pete Sarmiento and the almost mythical Pancho Villa.

The American press of the day was fascinated by Filipino fighters, depicting them as exotic little warriors hell-bent on pleasing the audience. In fact, the island audience was just as fascinating as the fighters were, as California writer Jim Brann chronicled in a 1924 report from the Olympic Club:

Twice during the early stages of the fight, fans clinging to rafters became so excited that they lost their grip and tumbled directly into the ring, delaying the fight momentarily. But it was only for a moment, for they were instantly thrust out, without even pause to see if they were injured.

-- California writer Jim Brann, on overzealous Filipino fight fans at the Olympic Club in 1924
"Twice during the early stages of the fight, fans clinging to rafters became so excited that they lost their grip and tumbled directly into the ring, delaying the fight momentarily. But it was only for a moment, for they were instantly thrust out, without even pause to see if they were injured."

Brann described the crowd as a "vortex of screaming humanity," adding, "People in the front seats scrambled over those in the press box to get closer to the fighters and shout advice."

Villa's 1923 victory over Welsh flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde reverberated throughout the Philippines. Not only did Villa become the 112-pound champion of the world, but his win had political implications similar to when America's Joe Louis defeated Germany's Max Schmeling. One American columnist wrote, "The man in the street regarded the victory as a certain sign that the United States government will see that the Filipinos are capable of self-government." Even educated Filipinos, "while deploring prizefighting, were nevertheless elated."

But just as the sport was booming on the islands, it began crumbling. The ring deaths of two popular fighters, Dencio Cabanela and Clever Sencio, along with the death of Villa in 1925 -- he died during an operation for a mouth infection -- began the downturn. Attendance at the Olympic dropped.

Another sign that the first golden era of Filipino boxing had passed occurred in 1933 when Frank Churchill died of heart failure.

Churchill, for his part, was no angel. He's sometimes credited with starting the shady practice of demanding a "piece" of a challenger's contract. He was once asked to leave California by that state's commission for his unethical practices. Still, most remembered him as a loyal manager of fighters. At the time of his death, he was involved in the career of Ceferino Garcia, who would win the middleweight championship in 1939.

The Tait brothers, however, soldiered on. In 1937, Eddie co-produced the first feature film shot in Manila, "Zamboanga." The film was hailed as a masterpiece of South Seas filmmaking, but expenses and taxes prevented Eddie from turning Manila into a film capital.

Stewart continued his circus work, only to be captured by the Japanese during World War II and held prisoner for three years in the Santo Tomas internment camp. When Stewart was released, the Tait name limped into obscurity.

Perhaps Churchill and the Taits were nothing more than American showmen padding their wallets, no different than Don King or Tex Rickard. Or maybe they truly believed in boxing's better qualities. But no matter which side of the sportsmen/huckster coin they belonged to, their impact on Filipino culture was felt for decades. There were many more champions to come, from Flash Elorde to Ben Villaflor, to Pacquiao.

In fact, when Pacquiao fights, you can almost hear the trio from Tacoma whispering among themselves, "He's good. Sign him up for Wednesday."

Don Stradley is a regular contributor to The Ring.
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