Javier Rogelio "El Chatito" Jáuregui Delgado

His cojones may not have yet even finished descending when he made his pro debut, a la tierna edad de catorce años. They sure would drop - and expand to damn near grapefruit size, to hang like heavy bags - over the subsequent 2½ decades of work logged by the flat-nosed (hence "Chatito", a condition that was congenital but only exacerbated by his vocation) Guadalajaran pugilist at the rope-bound office. His is a name you won't hear bandied about much when discussing the Mexican warriors of the last few decades; indeed he probably wouldn't make too many fans' top 40 lists of belt holders among his countrymen, if the criterion was (as in boxing it oft is) the vague and elusive quality of perceived 'greatness'. You won't find too many of his peers, though, who'd disagree that he was the living embodiment of the very phrase "Mexican warrior" - and quite a respectable, if decidedly shy of world class elite, talent. Some may glance at BoxRec and write him off as just the all too familiar story of journeyman briefly turned paper champion...as somebody that lost to a vast majority of his topmost quality opponents - which is superficially true, if a bit dismissive of context.

You're no flukey one hit wonder IMO when you boast TKO victories over Leavander William "Hook" Johnson and José Luis "El Temible" Castillo, the latter twice! One such victory, maybe you can say "yeah, whatever, broken clock 2x/diem...journeyman got lucky and overachieved beyond his true worth"...two, perhaps; but three?? Nah. He also held Kyrgyz dynamo Almazbek Raiymkulov - years past his own prime and smack in the midst of "Kid Diamond's", to a MD. His only blowout defeat was a blitz at the hands of Acelino "Popó" Freitas, which is honestly no great shame considering that, despite Brazil's poor showing overall in this sport over the years, the always explosive Popó is probably co-GOAT with the mighty Jofre. Chatito was competitive - if a clear second-best - in points defeats to respected champs such as Jesús Gabriel Sandoval "El Matador" Chávez, Agapito "El Ciclón" Sánchez, and Joan "El Pequeño Tyson" Guzmán. He also racked up a fair number of decent North American level wins over the likes of Ivan deJesús "Relampago" Valle Velázquez, Miguel Ángel "El Anestesista" Huerta Medina, and six foot tall American former amateur standout (and brother of Russell Mora, the referee whose overall middle-of-the-road career has been largely defined for better or worse by his infamously poor night's officiating in Mares vs. Agbeko I) Adrián "Juanito" Mora.

The moment that cemented my fandom was actually long past his best days, when he went to absolute war against then little-known Russian prospect Ruslan Mikhailovich Provodnikov. It was most Americans' first glimpse of "The Siberian Rocky", but it was readily apparent within a round that he was a blue chipper with major upside predicated on a granite slab chin and brick fists. It was also quite obvious that he ought to have the beating of a grizzled ex-titlist well into a lengthy gradual decline and disadvantaged by almost every metric imaginable. Nonetheless, they slugged it out for several rounds with the crafty veteran not only presenting a difficult target with awkward movement and spirited counter volleys, before a reticent Jáuregui succumbed - courtesy of a mercy stoppage by Jack Reiss. Notably, at that moment Jáuregui was standing, and still punching back while under heavy fire against the ropes.

A few years later, and IMO quite belatedly given the punishment he took before and during the Provodnikov match, he would finally call it a day. Unfortunately, his career predeceased him by less than one full calendar year. He abruptly suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma, ultimately expiring that same night just 9½ weeks after his fortieth birthday. What precipitated that event is a matter of some controversy in Mexican boxing circles.

Then ascendant marquee name Santos Saúl "Cinnamon" Álvarez Barragán had used his friend, local childhood inspiration, hype-man and mentor - mind you, after Jáuregui had retired from prizefighting over concerns for his long-term health and decreasing ability to intelligently defend himself - as sparring partner for his 2013 bouts with Austin Trout and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Now, there is contention as to whether that partnership continued beyond the Mayweather defeat. Televisa, longtime domestic broadcast home of Canelo (a mutually beneficial arrangement that was his most lucrative source of income for the first half of his career), would allege that several months ahead of his comeback match with Alfredo "Perro" Angulo, the young star would task Jáuregui with standing up to brutal prolonged batterings in behind-closed-doors sessions. This loyal member of Canelo's team, who ranked among his much-ballyhooed fellow Tapatío's most exuberant advocates, had spent ⅔ of his life - from the age of 14yrs,5mos (and that's notwithstanding any time he spent in his pre-professional youth making ready for his debut and engaging in gym wars) to 40yrs,3mos - in the ring clobbering and getting clobbered in return. Shame on Canelo if Televisa's damning article holds even half-truths, including that he took full advantage of Jáuregui's toughness (still evident if deteriorating in his last few bouts), fealty (meaning he was unlikely to retaliate to any viciousness and probably considered it an honor to contribute to helping forge the youngster's iron), and by that point offensively gormless (to say nothing of, natural lightweight vs. natural middle young enough to be his son, hmm) nature to inflict massive damage in anticipation of the challenge posed by El Perro, a stubborn and durable pressure fighter. Canelo is said to have not held anything back as he basically made a mook jong (wooden dummy used in Wing Chun and other martial arts) of poor old Jáuregui, hoping to refine his arsenal to a point that he could easily destroy Angulo. The infuriating and heart-breaking part of all this, aside from Jáuregui's implicit trust and blind faith in Canelo, is that Angulo is someone that Canelo probably should have been able to cruise past even on his worst night - meaning that Jáuregui's fate was suffered (assuming these sessions were indeed the straw that broke the camel's brain, in this case) unnecessarily. There are many reasons that I will never root for Álvarez (somebody for whom I was fairly excited and did support early on, making their later appalling behavior that much the greater disappointment, much like Deontay Wilder) - including the Archie Solis debacle before this - but my belief that he is guilty of Televisa's charges may be foremost. The scumminess of using a dues-paid warrior like that, and furthermore his complete disavowal of even incidental (let alone malicious) accountability for his friend's death, as well as his team's efforts since to squash any mention of the story internationally (let me guess, most of you have never heard of the whole Canelo vs. Televisa split and feud, nor anything mentioning Jáuregui's death beyond maybe a footnote in the news with scant detail back in 2013...because afaik, it has never been widely reported in any English-language print or television media. A single article on the Scene, that's all...lest anyone doubt the reach and influence of the GBP machine...)

Javi should have been part of the big moment ring walk entourages against GGG, and Cotto, and Khan, and JCC Jr. and Kovalev and probably still be alive today. At the very least, 2013 was too damn early and - while there were probably already risk factors after his long and brutal career, willfully subjecting oneself to an unrequited thrashing by someone half your age is a surefire way to jump over that line and into the cold void.

Here is a smattering of his career highs that are currently available for public consumption online.

Jáuregui vs. Juan "El Golo (The Goal Scorer)" Gómez Trinidad:

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Jáuregui vs. José Luis Castillo II:

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Jáuregui vs. Ryuhei Sugita:

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Wishlist:

Jáuregui TKO11 Leavander Johnson
Jáuregui vs. JLC 1
Jáuregui vs. Huerta

 

CST/Rummy/Mac/kirk/Serge, whoever - please cross-pollinate into Classic when you can.

 

Oh and GUERRA NAKATANI! Finish exposing that cubic zirconia once and for all for me.

Ciao, everybody. Próspero año y felicidad.

 

Not certain, no, but

1. the widow could well have been either a) erring on the side of honoring Javier's wishes (and we can presume they would've been "protect the boy") over seeking justice for him, or, more cynically and veering into conspiracy theory land (but in a famously corrupt sport, where star-favoring conspiracy theories hold more water than alleged scandals in, say, hockey), she might have been paid off by GBP/Reynoso etc
2. aneurysms can just as easily stem from CTE as can a stroke (the latter being the widely reported cause of Jáuregui's death)
3. Canelo and his crew got real shifty about it, and breaking off with Televisa may not have damaged his career that badly in the long run but certainly was a step to not take lightly at that point when a deal with DAZN was still far across the horizon
4. Virtually no mention of Jáuregui's death or the Canelo vs. Televisa fallout in American or English-language media calls to mind the mysterious disappearance off the net of all Wilder vs. Sconiers knockdown footage...

As with most evidence speaking to poor character on Canelo's part, you can dismiss any one isolated aspect under the auspices of circumstantial happenstance and rumors spurred by haters, but everything taken in sum? All rather suss. I've got no benefit of the doubt to spare the guy, but other folks' motion of course may vary.

 

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...and thank you for the kind words (and going to bat for me with the mucketymucks) - but we both know I'm not that valuable a member here anymore. Not to mention I never particularly cared about being a mod or took it seriously as some kind of solemn responsibility (having not asked for the job... either time) - although I do very much resent the loss of editorial autonomy over my own content. As for banning right wing whackadoos (which is what I seemed to spend 99% of my moderating time doing outside my own self absorbed crap, making my ban and fall from the grace the stuff of legend among that set), you're going to have to shift a bit left to fill the vacuum and keep the Lounge on a centrist keel I guess.

IB of 2009-13 is long gone (now that dude was awesome, and passionate about the sport nonpareil). Hell, I don't even like boxing that much nowadays. I literally fell asleep in Spence vs. DSG round 8 or 9...but that could also just be that both guys always bored me a little. Idk. Either way I'm shotter and further removed from my peak than Mike Tyson and Roy Jones combined.










But who knows what the future holds..