Gran Campeon
Tweet
By Sergio Martinez
Mexican prizefighting has a rich and storied history which includes many champions and hall-of-fame pugilist who have left their impressions for future generations to revere.
Most Mexican fighters of old were considered mindless left-hooking brawlers with limited knowledge of the art of boxing. In the mid-to-late eighties and early nineties, that inclination slowly began a transmutation as the prototypical "Mexican warrior" gradually revealed flashes of true boxing aptitude, merging aggressive brawling tactics with lateral foot and head movements. Stiff, textbook jabs and straight punches replaced wide, winging left hooks. Yes, Mexican boxing as we all knew it turned a corner and we had a rebirth of sorts with many of the young up-and-coming pugilists from our neighbors to the south looking more and more "Americanized" as they fought under the bright boxing lights in the United States.
Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, who also trained Mexico's amateur national team at the time, was at the forefront of this Mexican revolution. "In order to be able to properly train a fighter into a world class boxer, whether you are in Mexico or anywhere else in the world, the person you are training needs to have commitment, dedication, love of the sport and, most importantly, respect and belief in his trainer and the tactics being taught to him. If a fighter believes the teachings offered to him then he, without question, will focus completely on learning his craft properly, which is the only thing a fighter should be concerned with," said Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain to 15rounds.com from his legendary gym in the Distrito Federal, Mexico.
Beristain has been around for what seems like an eternity now, training many world class, champions, and half-of-fame fighters throughout his illustrious career. With so much accomplished, what is it that has made him so successful? "Once you find a fighter that is completely willing to learn, then one must mold him and find out what his strengths and weaknesses are in order to evaluate what should be the strategy used to train that particular fighter. There are many fighters that are very willing, but I have to make sure that the boxer has the totality of natural technical resources that permit him to evolve into a world class fighter which will allow me to work intensively. Before one can accept a world title bout, a trainer has to be responsible and know if his fighter has the quality to navigate and perform at that highest of levels in this hard sport."
And his two most recent protégés, the Marquez brothers (Juan Manuel and Rafael), have proven to have the "quality to navigate and perform at the highest of levels of this hard sport," as both fighters are respected world champions, with Juan Manuel in particular seen as a perfect counter-punching machine. Beristain had this to say about his two current star pupils. "Juan Manuel and Rafael have been with me since they were young kids. They were mere teens when they were brought to me and they had all of the things I told you about. They are both very special to me and I truly am proud of, not only the fighters that they are, but the men they grew into. Juan Manuel and Rafael are both dedicated family men who are models of clean living, and conduct themselves as professionals at all times. I have always protected them as my own and will continue to look out for them because we have a very strong bond and we respect each other."
This fatherly protection that "Nacho" exudes, has led to a lot of criticisms from the boxing media and promoters alike claiming that Beristain has ******ed the careers of both Marquez' because of his unreasonable negotiation tactics. The Mexican training legend gave this explanation of that assessment.
"I trained these boys to be great fighters and have guided their careers since the beginning. I have always looked out for their best interest. With time, a trainer gains the love of his pupils and, although it is not the same with all fighters, there should always be a healthy relationship. Juan is a young man with great convictions who is honest and he always has done things the right way. That personality and integrity has led him to be a man of stellar principles. When we were ready to debut Juan Manuel, he had an accident in which he fractured his spine. I retired him for three years and was not even sure that he would fight again. My primary concern was for him to get well and be able to have a normal life. He studied and is an accountant in Mexico. He owns several properties and has managed his money well so that he does not have to yield to selfish promoters and unreasonable financial offers. With God's grace, Juan Manuel recovered and is now an awesome fighting machine. Both of them are world class fighters and the best in their respective divisions and I feel that it is my responsibility to make sure that they are well compensated and receive the money their talent merits."
And that mindset has led to a rocky relationship between "Nacho" and Top Rank who promote the two Mexican stars. Oftentimes, money and opponent disputes led to Juan Manuel and Rafael sitting around waiting for fights to be made. The Marquez brothers are at the end of their promotional contracts with Top Rank, and Beristain has no intention of signing deals with any promoters until he fully evaluates their options, and decides what is best for his prizefighters.
"We are at the tail end of our promotional contracts with Top Rank, which is a company that never projected my boys the way they deserved to be projected and treated. At this time, we have no intent in signing with anyone until we step back, take a deep breath, and count to ten so that we do not make the same mistake we made the first time we signed a deal. I'm not sure why Top Rank never featured Juan Manuel or Rafael, but I am of the opinion that they just have too many star fighters which they are in love with. If it is not Erik Morales, or a Barrera type guy, then fighters are made to one side and are not promoted right. What can one do at that time? We are just waiting for our contract to expire so that we can decide what our next move will be. The future is full of possibilities."
And speaking of the future being "full of possibilities," Beristain has a new young crop of Mexican prizefighters that are ready to be unveiled for the boxing community to witness.
"I have an undefeated 112-pound prospect named Cristian Cardenas who was a Mexican amateur champion and has amazing natural abilities and is going to be one to watch. I also have a great looking welterweight prospect who was also a national champion, named Saul Herrera. He has great boxing technique and style. I also have a 160-pound prospect named Carlos "Chocolate" Duarte who is waiting to make his professional debut, but I can't find fights for him in Mexico. Duarte is a big kid with a lot of skills and tremendous speed. He has been helping Manuel "*******" Gomez with his preparation for the Margarito fight and Carlos has held his own with Gomez. I'm looking forward to his debut as Duarte is only twenty-three-years-old and is incredibly strong. I'm really looking forward to having him fight professionally. We still have a lot to accomplish in this sport and I look forward to training many more young fighters in the future."
Only time will tell if the aforementioned youth of Beristain's boxing stable will flourish into future marvels of the sport, but one thing is for sure, they have the benefit of a true legend and boxing master in their corners to learn from and that is more than any young pug can ask. I can't wait to see them fight myself.
Mexican prizefighting has a rich and storied history which includes many champions and hall-of-fame pugilist who have left their impressions for future generations to revere.
Most Mexican fighters of old were considered mindless left-hooking brawlers with limited knowledge of the art of boxing. In the mid-to-late eighties and early nineties, that inclination slowly began a transmutation as the prototypical "Mexican warrior" gradually revealed flashes of true boxing aptitude, merging aggressive brawling tactics with lateral foot and head movements. Stiff, textbook jabs and straight punches replaced wide, winging left hooks. Yes, Mexican boxing as we all knew it turned a corner and we had a rebirth of sorts with many of the young up-and-coming pugilists from our neighbors to the south looking more and more "Americanized" as they fought under the bright boxing lights in the United States.
Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, who also trained Mexico's amateur national team at the time, was at the forefront of this Mexican revolution. "In order to be able to properly train a fighter into a world class boxer, whether you are in Mexico or anywhere else in the world, the person you are training needs to have commitment, dedication, love of the sport and, most importantly, respect and belief in his trainer and the tactics being taught to him. If a fighter believes the teachings offered to him then he, without question, will focus completely on learning his craft properly, which is the only thing a fighter should be concerned with," said Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain to 15rounds.com from his legendary gym in the Distrito Federal, Mexico.
Beristain has been around for what seems like an eternity now, training many world class, champions, and half-of-fame fighters throughout his illustrious career. With so much accomplished, what is it that has made him so successful? "Once you find a fighter that is completely willing to learn, then one must mold him and find out what his strengths and weaknesses are in order to evaluate what should be the strategy used to train that particular fighter. There are many fighters that are very willing, but I have to make sure that the boxer has the totality of natural technical resources that permit him to evolve into a world class fighter which will allow me to work intensively. Before one can accept a world title bout, a trainer has to be responsible and know if his fighter has the quality to navigate and perform at that highest of levels in this hard sport."
And his two most recent protégés, the Marquez brothers (Juan Manuel and Rafael), have proven to have the "quality to navigate and perform at the highest of levels of this hard sport," as both fighters are respected world champions, with Juan Manuel in particular seen as a perfect counter-punching machine. Beristain had this to say about his two current star pupils. "Juan Manuel and Rafael have been with me since they were young kids. They were mere teens when they were brought to me and they had all of the things I told you about. They are both very special to me and I truly am proud of, not only the fighters that they are, but the men they grew into. Juan Manuel and Rafael are both dedicated family men who are models of clean living, and conduct themselves as professionals at all times. I have always protected them as my own and will continue to look out for them because we have a very strong bond and we respect each other."
This fatherly protection that "Nacho" exudes, has led to a lot of criticisms from the boxing media and promoters alike claiming that Beristain has ******ed the careers of both Marquez' because of his unreasonable negotiation tactics. The Mexican training legend gave this explanation of that assessment.
"I trained these boys to be great fighters and have guided their careers since the beginning. I have always looked out for their best interest. With time, a trainer gains the love of his pupils and, although it is not the same with all fighters, there should always be a healthy relationship. Juan is a young man with great convictions who is honest and he always has done things the right way. That personality and integrity has led him to be a man of stellar principles. When we were ready to debut Juan Manuel, he had an accident in which he fractured his spine. I retired him for three years and was not even sure that he would fight again. My primary concern was for him to get well and be able to have a normal life. He studied and is an accountant in Mexico. He owns several properties and has managed his money well so that he does not have to yield to selfish promoters and unreasonable financial offers. With God's grace, Juan Manuel recovered and is now an awesome fighting machine. Both of them are world class fighters and the best in their respective divisions and I feel that it is my responsibility to make sure that they are well compensated and receive the money their talent merits."
And that mindset has led to a rocky relationship between "Nacho" and Top Rank who promote the two Mexican stars. Oftentimes, money and opponent disputes led to Juan Manuel and Rafael sitting around waiting for fights to be made. The Marquez brothers are at the end of their promotional contracts with Top Rank, and Beristain has no intention of signing deals with any promoters until he fully evaluates their options, and decides what is best for his prizefighters.
"We are at the tail end of our promotional contracts with Top Rank, which is a company that never projected my boys the way they deserved to be projected and treated. At this time, we have no intent in signing with anyone until we step back, take a deep breath, and count to ten so that we do not make the same mistake we made the first time we signed a deal. I'm not sure why Top Rank never featured Juan Manuel or Rafael, but I am of the opinion that they just have too many star fighters which they are in love with. If it is not Erik Morales, or a Barrera type guy, then fighters are made to one side and are not promoted right. What can one do at that time? We are just waiting for our contract to expire so that we can decide what our next move will be. The future is full of possibilities."
And speaking of the future being "full of possibilities," Beristain has a new young crop of Mexican prizefighters that are ready to be unveiled for the boxing community to witness.
"I have an undefeated 112-pound prospect named Cristian Cardenas who was a Mexican amateur champion and has amazing natural abilities and is going to be one to watch. I also have a great looking welterweight prospect who was also a national champion, named Saul Herrera. He has great boxing technique and style. I also have a 160-pound prospect named Carlos "Chocolate" Duarte who is waiting to make his professional debut, but I can't find fights for him in Mexico. Duarte is a big kid with a lot of skills and tremendous speed. He has been helping Manuel "*******" Gomez with his preparation for the Margarito fight and Carlos has held his own with Gomez. I'm looking forward to his debut as Duarte is only twenty-three-years-old and is incredibly strong. I'm really looking forward to having him fight professionally. We still have a lot to accomplish in this sport and I look forward to training many more young fighters in the future."
Only time will tell if the aforementioned youth of Beristain's boxing stable will flourish into future marvels of the sport, but one thing is for sure, they have the benefit of a true legend and boxing master in their corners to learn from and that is more than any young pug can ask. I can't wait to see them fight myself.
Comment