Mexico and Puerto Rico: The friendliest of vicious rivalries

On 8 June 1969, the soccer teams of El Salvador and Honduras met in the first leg of a two-legged tie to qualify for the following year’s World Cup. The game took place in the shadow of growing tension between the neighbors; and after Honduras won the game, which took place in its capital Tegucigalpa, 1-0, Salvadoran fans set fire to the stadium.

One week later, El Salvador won the second leg, held in their capital San Salvador, 3-0; the night before, Salvadoran fans rioted outside the Honduran team hotel, resulting in several deaths, and inside the stadium on the night of the game, Salvadorans flew a dirty rag instead of the Honduran flag.

Anti-Salvadoran riots broke out across Honduras in the aftermath, and, on June 26, El Salvador broke off diplomatic relations, claiming 12,000 Salvadorans had been forced to flee Honduras in the game’s aftermath. 

The situation grew more tense as the two nations engaged in border skirmishes over the following weeks until, on July 14, war broke out.

The conflict did not last long: within a few days it was over, following a ceasefire negotiated by the Organization of American States.

Even so, when it comes to sporting rivalries, the “Soccer War” (or Football War, if you prefer) is the prime exemplar: two nations that already were at loggerheads pushed over the edge by sporting conflict into actual conflict.

There is no shortage of sporting rivalries between nations that are at least partly motivated by broader geopolitical components, historical grievances, or generations of warfare.

Sure, the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” remains so celebrated in the United States partly because a hockey team composed mainly of amateurs upended the professional juggernauts of the Soviet Union, but what really caused it to resonate was its context: at the height of the Cold War, as the U.S. administration was considering whether to boycott that year’s summer Olympics in Moscow over the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan.

If you want a real taste of contemporary sporting rivalry, how about a cricket match between India and Pakistan, two nations that hate each other with the heat of a thousand suns. Or any sporting event between Kosovo and Serbia, Armenia and Azerbaijan or, one day in the future when and if present hostilities die down, Russia and Ukraine.

In this context, the touted boxing rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico, the latest chapter of which will unfold on September 14 between Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga, is an entirely different animal.

There is no particular animosity between the two nations, no history of conflict, colonialism, or conquest. As has been widely observed, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are more likely to cheer on each other against a team or athlete from the United States. But inside the squared circle it has become the ultimate rivalry, the epitome of pugilistic competition, not least because both Mexico and Puerto Rico are in the habit of churning out exciting, high-quality prizefighters. The rivalry may not have geopolitical or historical underpinnings, but it has become a source of pride for both sides and has produced numerous memorable clashes.

But a national sporting rivalry doesn’t have to be driven by generations of resentment or the threat of future warfare to be electric. Consider, by way of illustration, the following, all of which are among the very best the rivalry has served up so far:

Sixto Escobar KO9 Rodolfo Casanova

June 26, 1932

Decades before the Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry had been officially designated as such, Puerto Rico’s Escobar snatched the bantamweight world title from Mexico’s Casanova in neutral territory in Montreal. In a thrilling battle, Escobar dropped Casanova in the third, and although the Mexican fought his way back onto almost level terms, Escobar turned out his lights with an uppercut in the ninth round and became the island’s first world champion.

Salvador Sanchez KO8 Wilfredo Gomez

August 21, 1981

There had been plenty of meaningful clashes between Mexican and Puerto Rican boxers before this 1981 featherweight title fight (Sanchez himself had beaten Juan Laporte the year before, and Gomez had overcome Carlos Zarate in 1978, to name but a couple of examples) but there’s a case to be made that this is the event that truly kicked off the rivalry as we know it today.

Both men were already big stars in their respective homelands when Don King put them together at Caesars Palace in “The Battle of the Little Giants.” Fans, promoters, and TV execs alike took note of the lively, boisterous crowds and the charged atmosphere ringside and vowed to tap the Latino – and specifically Mexican and Puerto Rican – fanbases with greater purposes. The fight itself saw Sanchez defeat Gomez by eighth-round TKO to hand the Puerto Rican his first loss and retain his crown. 

Wilfredo Gomez KO14 Lupe Pintor

December 3, 1982

Gomez took revenge of sorts the following year with this defense of his 122 pound title. In a mesmerizingly violent battle, he and Pintor traded momentum, with Gomez doing the bulk of the damage during the first half of the fight and Pintor calmly battling his way back into contention. By round 14, Gomez seemed spent, with one eye closed, until a left-hand-to-the-body/right-hand-upstairs combo suddenly dropped Pintor for the first time in the contest. Pintor beat the count, but Gomez dropped him again and the referee stepped in to bring a halt to a terrific fight.

Julio Cesar Chavez TKO11 Edwin Rosario

November 21, 1987

If Sanchez and Gomez lit the match, Chavez and Rosario poured gasoline on the fire.  

“Puerto Ricans talk too much,” declared Chavez beforehand. “They’re always boasting, always saying, ‘I’m going to crush you, I’m going to knock you out,’ but then they can’t back it up. Rosario has a big mouth, and the people around him have big mouths.”

“I will send you back to Mexico in a box, you coward!” spat Rosario in retort.

Alas for Rosario and Puerto Rico, this fight, for Rosario’s lightweight title, was quite possibly Chavez’s finest hour, breaking Rosario down, beating him up, and stopping him in the 11th.

Felix Trinidad TKO4 Yory Boy Campas

September 17, 1994

Both men were undefeated – Campas 56-0 and Trinidad 23-0 – when they met at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for Trinidad’s welterweight belt. In the second round, a Campas left hook dropped Trinidad to the seat of his pants, amd when he was hurt again in the third, Trinidad unleashed below the belt – twice – and earned a rebuke and a point deduction. Seemingly enraged, Trinidad dominated the rest of the round and then stopped Campas in the fourth with a fierce flurry. 

Jorge Arce TKO 12 Wilfredo Vasquez Jr

May 7, 2011

With a record of 56-6-2, Arce was seven years removed from his world championship peak, but he was able to summon up one more great performance against the younger Vasquez, son of Puerto Rican legend Wilfredo Vasquez Sr. A knockdown in round four – the first of Arce’s career – suggested that fortune favored the youth, but Arce would not be denied and called upon years of experience and determination to outwork and outfight Vasquez and eventually pummel him until the Puerto Rican’s corner threw in the towel.

Antonio Margarito TKO11 Miguel Cotto 

July 26, 2008

Miguel Cotto TKO 9 Antonio Margarito

December 3, 2011

For levels of pure spite, few rivalries, involving any nationalities, can hold a candle to this one. Cotto was undefeated and in the form of his life, when he took on Margarito in Las Vegas in 2008; and he got off to a strong start, boxing beautifully and building up a lead on the scorecards, until Margarito’s relentless pressure took over, taking the fight out of Cotto and causing him to yield in the 11th.

One fight later, Margarito was knocked out by Shane Mosley and was enveloped in controversy over illegal hand wraps, which caused Cotto to steam in furious belief that his defeat to the Mexican had been achieved via nefarious means.

By the time they met in a rematch at Madison Square Garden three years later, Margarito’s right eye had been damaged by the fists of Manny Pacquiao; Cotto targeted the same eye relentlessly and forced a doctor stoppage between the eighth and ninth rounds. The massed Puerto Rican fans celebrated wildly, inside and outside the famous arena.

Whether Saul Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga can produce a performance to match or even approach the ones above, or any other of the great clashes between their countrymen, remains to be seen. But fans of both and neutrals alike will be hoping it is at least competitive and compelling, and provides further evidence that a national boxing rivalry doesn’t need the threat of pushing two countries to war to be one worth recognizing and celebrating.

Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcasted about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.