By Tom David Drury: I follow the international boxing scene closely and yet again a Mexican fighter has seemingly come from nowhere to establish himself on the world stage, Cristian Esquivel was not known to me, although showing he could fight when defeating South Africa’s towering Tshifhiwa Munyai on 7/8/2010 to win the WBC’s silver bantam title (yet another belt).
Esquivel had been stopped twice, but he had won eight fights in a row, seven by K.o. Munyai was a step up in class, well known in Britain due to his stoppage wins over Martin Power and Lee Haskins, but Esquivel survived a last round onslaught to take a UD decision victory.
For an American or British prospect today, two losses on the record would have critics wondering if the fighter was all that good. In Mexico things are different, the boxers expect to be matched in tough fights. Sometimes fights are taken at short notice, a boxer can be put in over his head. It is all part of the learning process in a harsh boxing environment. In the states or Britain the rising fighter will usually be featured on television once he starts to attract attention, In Mexico shows are staged for the most part in comparative obscurity- that is without t.v coverage. If a fighter loses even stopped a couple of times, as in Esquivel’s case it isn’t such a big deal. Just because a Mexican boxer has some losses on his resume does not mean he can be taken lightly. The Mexican fighters generally speaking are well schooled- they know how to fight.
Many highly regarded boxers have come unstuck against Mexican fighters with inferior statistical records, one example was Freddie Gilroy a bantamweight from Belfast (Ireland) who was considered one of Britain’s best fighters in the 1960’s, Gilroy was unbeaten in 21 bouts and was not expected to have any difficulty against Mexico’s Ignacio Pina in their Manchester contest. Pina had lost twice and boxed to a draw in his last seven bout’s, but he knocked Gilroy down and clearly outscored him. Humberto Soto was another surprise package when he challenged undefeated Olympic silver medallist Rocky Juarez in 2005 (HBO) and clearly beat him on points, Soto from Tijuana had lost 5 times. The assumption can be made “write off Mexican fighters at your peril”.
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