This content is protected This...can't be accurate, right? 149 seems too low if we're talking about professional matchups, first of all. If that is just for championships then my gut would have said that Mexico was ahead. I'd be interested to see the comprehensive list used to reach those numbers. It feels very much like they just fudged them for the marketing angle, to make it seem like Canelo is going to narrow the gap and downplay how big an underdog Berlanga is.
Puerto Rico is slightly ahead but it doesn’t really mean much. We’ve been on a downward spiral of shitty fighters ever since the hurricane and have never recovered. The mid 00’s was the last great years of PR boxing, I remember at one point we had 3 champions at welterweight alone in Cotto, Quintana and Cintron. It’s gotten so bad now that we’re forced to ride Bumlangas dick now despite him being a complete bum and from Brooklyn.
Mexico right now is just flat out better than Puerto Rico in boxing and has been for a while, the rivalry has been dead for more than a decade now. It used to be extremely competitive and heated, it was the reason why I became a boxing fan. But those days are over now, As a die hard Puerto Rican it pains me to say this, but it’s just the truth. JuanMa was our promised one, it didn’t even matter that he knocked out Rafael Marquez or Ponce DeLeon, he was a glass jawed fraud and the writing was on the wall even since the Mtagawa fight in which he almost got knocked out by a fringe contender with 900 losses. Orlando Salido got ahold of JuanMa and beat his ass twice in Puerto Rico which was the final nail in the coffin. Not even gonna mention Verdejo since he never made it passed prospect status and quickly became a journeyman. Before that you had Calderon getting sexually molested by Segura and Cotto getting plastered by Margarito. You have Amanda Serrano but who really cares about women’s boxing? The morale in Puerto Rican boxing as a whole is at an all time low, we’ve been waiting for someone good for a while but they’ve all been busts. Matias was also supposed to be good but I already knew he was too old to do anything significant. I still think he beats that midget Isaac Cruz’s ass though, that’d be a nice little scrap in the rivalry. Cruz doesn’t want it though.
Like the others mentioned. The rivalry is in a period of stagnation. Which sadly happens sometimes. The real rivalry right now is between Japan and Mexico.
Mexico has the upper hand at the moment. But no need to get down in the gutter. At least it's not as bad as the Japan-Thailand rivalry.
That's a bs number. I can recall seeing 150 PR-Mex bouts per month back in the Boxing Desde Mexico telecast days.
The official number has Puerto Rico slightly ahead in title fights, theres a Wikipedia article on it that has it as 84-72 in Puerto Rico’s favor concerning title fights but I doubt it’s legitimacy when it has Shakur Stevenson beating Oscar Valdez as part of its history(although shakur is Rican by his dads side and wears the Rican flag on his trunks) so maybe we’ll let that slide but it also includes ibo as well so idk? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico–Puerto_Rico_boxing_rivalry
I can't remember which boxing show said it but they scoffed at canelo Berlanga and the Mexico Puerto Rico selling point and quipped something has to be competitive to be a rivalry I can't remember the last time Puerto Rico took home a W here in a significant fight. Cotto vs Margarito 2?
that matias vs cruz match up makes my mouth water. i think they match up well, like 2 pit bulls locked in a kennel. i would fork over some cheese for that one. i think the next big fight in this rivalry will be in a couple years between zayas and ortiz. ive rated both highly since the first time i saw them. im a fan of matias too, but i see more limitations in him.
Verdejo never made it to the journeyman phase. He tried to step up to the world level twice, and got stopped both times. He did have a few decent wins in his second run tho. And heck, he performed well vs Nakatani, despite the stoppage loss. That being said, he clearly was not world level. And you are a bit unfair to Cotto. He went on to have a solid run after the Margarito fight. But he was the last one. I know Oscar Collazo was born in USA, but he has been representing Puerto Rico for a long time and lives there now. But he fights at 105, so no one gives a ****. Matias looked promising, but he is not elite. Emmanuel Rodriguez is still a decent boxer, but not elite. Yea, it´s been all downhill for a long time now. And now you don´t even have the occasional Cotto level guy, or someone like JuanMa.
