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As a longtime American fight fan, I've always had a big soft spot for our amigos to the south. They come across the border and give outstanding fight after outstanding fight featuring any number of outstanding warriors. However, with fighters such as Barrera and Morales (and even fighters like Arce) past their primes to the point that they are no longer relevant to the global scene, and with such a cloud hanging over Margarito's career, it seems we are at a lull in the great history of the sport in Mexico. Maybe we could use a clearer look at the fight scene in Mexico these days. I am about to work out my P4P of Mexico, feel free to comment it or work on your own.
Just as a note, I’ve eliminated a few fighters from contention. Fighters like Librado Andrade who were born in Mexico but have lived their lives and for the most part fought as Mexican-Americans are in sort of a gray area and I may exclude some if I feel (in a somewhat, I’ll admit, ridiculous judgment call) they are more American than Mexican. Also, I have excluded Margarito due to his suspension and doubt whether or not he will be reinstated.
10) Abner Mares 18(11)-0 – 122 lbs
Mares is on my list more on talent than resume, but the unbeaten prospect has enough of that to carry him for now. The first prospect that Golden Boy attempted to build from the ground up has been slowed by injuries, recently taking an entire year off, but Mares returned to the ring in May to score a sixth round stoppage win. Look for Mares on the next edition of Golden Boy’s Fight Night Club series with what will most likely be a soft touch, after which hopefully we can finally see Mares tested by a contender. I list Mares at 122 because he has weighed in at 119 for his last two fights, but I imagine he’ll fight at 118 whenever he takes on a legit challenge.
9) Raul Garcia 26(16)-0 – 105 lbs
Unbeaten Mexican southpaw little man, all adjectives that apply accurately to little known minimumweight champ Raul Garcia. He won the IBF belt at 105 last year and has defended it three times already. 105 is empty right now even by its historically empty standards, but a move three pounds north could yield some solid fights for Garcia if he’d like to make a bit of money in his home country. Still, Garcia eeks into the Mexican P4P discussion on resume alone.
8) Alfredo Angulo 16(13)-1 – 154 lbs
Solid wins over fringe contenders/gatekeepers such as Cosme River, Richar Gutierrez, and Andrey Tsurkan created a greater buzz for what one normally would find for a fifteen fight prospect, buzz that led Angulo to a massive step up in taking on former welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron. Twelve rounds later Angulo had his first loss. Still, there is a lot of upside to be found with Angulo and his resume remains solid. He rebounded by stopping the deceptively underrated prospect tester Garbriel Rosado impressively in two.
7) Christian Mijares 36(15)-5-2 – 118 lbs
With a dominant win over Jorge Arce and a series of impressive victories against fighters such as Jose Navarro and Alexander Munoz, near the end of 2008 Mijares looked like a top ten pound for pound fighter globally. A shockingly one sided knockout loss to a very good opponent in Vic Darchinyan knocked him off that perch, but a surprising decision loss to an unknown Venezualan in an ill fated move to 118 pounds really calls his career into question. Is he past his prime already at age 27? A tentative rematch in the next few months will go a long way towards answering this.
6) Antonio DeMarco 22(16)-1-1 – 135 lbs
A close Shobox win over now former prospect Nick Casal late in 2007 put DeMarco on the map and he hasn’t lost his momentum since. His last two fights, a pair of Showtime Championship Boxing co-features were 9th round stoppage wins against good competition in Kid Diamond and Anges Adjaho, though the Adjaho win wasn’t without its fair of controversy as Adjaho cried foul. DeMarco is making noise with exciting wins. Look for Showtime to find another step up at lightweight for him as the pay network seems to be in love with the fighter.
5) Humberto Soto 48(31)-7-2 – 130 lbs
Ridiculous disqualification loss to Francisco Lorenzo (which has since been avenged) notwithstanding, Soto is 25-1 with a no contest since his 2002 title loss to Kevin Kelley, including a 2005 title win upset against then unbeaten Rocky Juarez which really put Soto in the minds of fight fans. Since then Soto has moved up to 130, beaten a few decent fringe contenders, lost a wide decision to Guzman in a fight in which he was unable to deal with the lateral movement and handspeed of the better athlete, before finally winning and defending a belt at 130 in the Lorenzo rematch. Soto is an exciting fighter with his technically solid, come forward style and a good resume, but he will always struggle with better athletes.
4) Edgar Sosa 36(20)-5 – 108 lbs
Sosa’s resume is a fascinating one to look over. In his sixth fight he lost a split decision to a 6-0-1 fighter, Ulises Solis, who would go on to be a titlist. Four fights later, in his tenth fight, he lost to current WBO belt holder but then 4-2 Manuel Vargas. Four fights later, again, he would lose to a 17-1-1 unknown named Omar Nino Romero who to would go on to hold a piece of the title. Two fights later he loses an extremely narrow decision to Isaac Bustos, who, you guessed it, went on to win a title. The follow up? Another narrow majority decision loss to Ulises Solis. Since then he has gone 24-0 and has a belt of his own that he won against Brian Viloria and has defended it 10 times. What a weird road he has travelled. I’d love to see him in against Calderon, a rematch with Viloria, a trilogy capper with Solis, or even against a moving up Raul Garcia. This is the deepest 108 has ever been. Now make the fights people.
3) Rafael Marquez 38(34)-5 -- 122 lbs
To describe Rafael Marquez as simply half of the outstanding trilogy with Israel Vasquez would be greatly underselling his accomplishments. With two wins over Mark “Two Sharp” Johnson, a win over Tim Austin, and two wins over Silence Mabuza to accompany the Vasquez trilogy, Marquez probably deserved more discussion in the international P4P argument than he ever got. He has been a truly elite fighter who has gained recognition far later than he deserved to because of his size.
2) Fernando Montiel 39(29)-2 -- 118 lbs
Montiel shook the interim label from the 118 pound title he won in March when Gerry Penalosa moved up to fight Juan Manuel Lopez, becoming the rare Mexican three division title holder having previously held titles at 112 and 115. This is a feat that has only been matched and never topped by any Mexican fighter throughout history. Since his 2006 split decision loss the first time he tried to move up and take a belt at 118 from the talented Johnny Gonzalez, Montiel has strung together an impressive six fight winning streak in defending his 115 lb belt against the likes of Z Gorres, Martin Castillo, and Luis Maldonado and moving up to 118 to snag the then interim belt.
1) Juan Manuel Marquez 50(37)-4-1 – 135 lbs
I don’t need to write about anything about Juan Manuel Marquez for any boxing fan. He is a top five P4P fighter internationally at minimum and most would say he deserves to be higher than that. Wins over Juan Diaz, Joel Casamayor, Rocky Juarez, Marco Antonio Barerra, and two nail biters in controversial decisions to P4P king Manny Pacquiao that were very debatable have well established him. If he could somehow beat unretiring former P4P king Floyd Mayweather Jr up two weight classes in September he would with little argument enter the all time great P4P discussion.
I hope you guys want to debate or comment on this. It was a lot of fun to do. There are plenty more countries to do if anyone is interested in having fun with it. Rip this one apart too.
Just as a note, I’ve eliminated a few fighters from contention. Fighters like Librado Andrade who were born in Mexico but have lived their lives and for the most part fought as Mexican-Americans are in sort of a gray area and I may exclude some if I feel (in a somewhat, I’ll admit, ridiculous judgment call) they are more American than Mexican. Also, I have excluded Margarito due to his suspension and doubt whether or not he will be reinstated.
10) Abner Mares 18(11)-0 – 122 lbs
Mares is on my list more on talent than resume, but the unbeaten prospect has enough of that to carry him for now. The first prospect that Golden Boy attempted to build from the ground up has been slowed by injuries, recently taking an entire year off, but Mares returned to the ring in May to score a sixth round stoppage win. Look for Mares on the next edition of Golden Boy’s Fight Night Club series with what will most likely be a soft touch, after which hopefully we can finally see Mares tested by a contender. I list Mares at 122 because he has weighed in at 119 for his last two fights, but I imagine he’ll fight at 118 whenever he takes on a legit challenge.
9) Raul Garcia 26(16)-0 – 105 lbs
Unbeaten Mexican southpaw little man, all adjectives that apply accurately to little known minimumweight champ Raul Garcia. He won the IBF belt at 105 last year and has defended it three times already. 105 is empty right now even by its historically empty standards, but a move three pounds north could yield some solid fights for Garcia if he’d like to make a bit of money in his home country. Still, Garcia eeks into the Mexican P4P discussion on resume alone.
8) Alfredo Angulo 16(13)-1 – 154 lbs
Solid wins over fringe contenders/gatekeepers such as Cosme River, Richar Gutierrez, and Andrey Tsurkan created a greater buzz for what one normally would find for a fifteen fight prospect, buzz that led Angulo to a massive step up in taking on former welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron. Twelve rounds later Angulo had his first loss. Still, there is a lot of upside to be found with Angulo and his resume remains solid. He rebounded by stopping the deceptively underrated prospect tester Garbriel Rosado impressively in two.
7) Christian Mijares 36(15)-5-2 – 118 lbs
With a dominant win over Jorge Arce and a series of impressive victories against fighters such as Jose Navarro and Alexander Munoz, near the end of 2008 Mijares looked like a top ten pound for pound fighter globally. A shockingly one sided knockout loss to a very good opponent in Vic Darchinyan knocked him off that perch, but a surprising decision loss to an unknown Venezualan in an ill fated move to 118 pounds really calls his career into question. Is he past his prime already at age 27? A tentative rematch in the next few months will go a long way towards answering this.
6) Antonio DeMarco 22(16)-1-1 – 135 lbs
A close Shobox win over now former prospect Nick Casal late in 2007 put DeMarco on the map and he hasn’t lost his momentum since. His last two fights, a pair of Showtime Championship Boxing co-features were 9th round stoppage wins against good competition in Kid Diamond and Anges Adjaho, though the Adjaho win wasn’t without its fair of controversy as Adjaho cried foul. DeMarco is making noise with exciting wins. Look for Showtime to find another step up at lightweight for him as the pay network seems to be in love with the fighter.
5) Humberto Soto 48(31)-7-2 – 130 lbs
Ridiculous disqualification loss to Francisco Lorenzo (which has since been avenged) notwithstanding, Soto is 25-1 with a no contest since his 2002 title loss to Kevin Kelley, including a 2005 title win upset against then unbeaten Rocky Juarez which really put Soto in the minds of fight fans. Since then Soto has moved up to 130, beaten a few decent fringe contenders, lost a wide decision to Guzman in a fight in which he was unable to deal with the lateral movement and handspeed of the better athlete, before finally winning and defending a belt at 130 in the Lorenzo rematch. Soto is an exciting fighter with his technically solid, come forward style and a good resume, but he will always struggle with better athletes.
4) Edgar Sosa 36(20)-5 – 108 lbs
Sosa’s resume is a fascinating one to look over. In his sixth fight he lost a split decision to a 6-0-1 fighter, Ulises Solis, who would go on to be a titlist. Four fights later, in his tenth fight, he lost to current WBO belt holder but then 4-2 Manuel Vargas. Four fights later, again, he would lose to a 17-1-1 unknown named Omar Nino Romero who to would go on to hold a piece of the title. Two fights later he loses an extremely narrow decision to Isaac Bustos, who, you guessed it, went on to win a title. The follow up? Another narrow majority decision loss to Ulises Solis. Since then he has gone 24-0 and has a belt of his own that he won against Brian Viloria and has defended it 10 times. What a weird road he has travelled. I’d love to see him in against Calderon, a rematch with Viloria, a trilogy capper with Solis, or even against a moving up Raul Garcia. This is the deepest 108 has ever been. Now make the fights people.
3) Rafael Marquez 38(34)-5 -- 122 lbs
To describe Rafael Marquez as simply half of the outstanding trilogy with Israel Vasquez would be greatly underselling his accomplishments. With two wins over Mark “Two Sharp” Johnson, a win over Tim Austin, and two wins over Silence Mabuza to accompany the Vasquez trilogy, Marquez probably deserved more discussion in the international P4P argument than he ever got. He has been a truly elite fighter who has gained recognition far later than he deserved to because of his size.
2) Fernando Montiel 39(29)-2 -- 118 lbs
Montiel shook the interim label from the 118 pound title he won in March when Gerry Penalosa moved up to fight Juan Manuel Lopez, becoming the rare Mexican three division title holder having previously held titles at 112 and 115. This is a feat that has only been matched and never topped by any Mexican fighter throughout history. Since his 2006 split decision loss the first time he tried to move up and take a belt at 118 from the talented Johnny Gonzalez, Montiel has strung together an impressive six fight winning streak in defending his 115 lb belt against the likes of Z Gorres, Martin Castillo, and Luis Maldonado and moving up to 118 to snag the then interim belt.
1) Juan Manuel Marquez 50(37)-4-1 – 135 lbs
I don’t need to write about anything about Juan Manuel Marquez for any boxing fan. He is a top five P4P fighter internationally at minimum and most would say he deserves to be higher than that. Wins over Juan Diaz, Joel Casamayor, Rocky Juarez, Marco Antonio Barerra, and two nail biters in controversial decisions to P4P king Manny Pacquiao that were very debatable have well established him. If he could somehow beat unretiring former P4P king Floyd Mayweather Jr up two weight classes in September he would with little argument enter the all time great P4P discussion.
I hope you guys want to debate or comment on this. It was a lot of fun to do. There are plenty more countries to do if anyone is interested in having fun with it. Rip this one apart too.
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