RIP Miguel Canto

Any recommendations on some of his best fights ? I haven't seen alot of Canto.

RIP Miguel Canto

 

If you want to get a good idea of Canto's skills.

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Canto's only filmed stoppage win out of 15 KOs.

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And another short clip of Canto's excellent ring craft.

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As best as I can tell, Canto never really captured the imagination of the Mexican public. He had only one title defense in Mexico outside of his home city, and it didn't draw well. What he did was bring boxing to his home state of Yucatan. It's not a small state, and his home city of Merida is one of the country's biggest, but Yucatan isn't one of the states that really form the image of Mexican culture, rather a Maya-dominated place at the tail end of the country. Canto was their first world champion, and his defense against Jiro Takada was the first world title fight held in Yucatan. The late '70s through the early '80s are known as the golden age of boxing for Yucatan, with five world champions in that stretch and only a couple since. Canto was the one who started that.

He made for an interesting contrast to his manager. Jesus Rivero was a talkative man, once kicked out of some socialist organization for having beliefs too radical even for them, and he confidently discussed his atheistic beliefs with Oscar De La Hoya. Canto was a reserved man, the consummate gentleman in the ring, and he made the sign of the cross at the start of each round. The two of them easily could have hated each other. Instead they worked together to create a title reign of historic proportions. Tying this point back with the previous one, busts of each of them now stand side by side in their mutual hometown of Merida in Yucatan. There's a really obvious message there, one that a lot of people in my home country currently seem determined to ignore.

 

RIP Miguel.

 

RIP Champ.......

- Chuck Johnston