One of the things I love about Mexican boxers is that they don’t have a problem stepping into a ring against each other. Part of it I think is that Mexico is a big country and there is a strong sense of regional identity that allows for Mexican fans to happily pick a side in these fights and frequently for there to be a genuine rivalry between fighters (think Tijuana/Mexico City for Morales-Barrera, for example). Likewise, here in the UK, we love a domestic scrap and have no problem with two of our best boxers facing off. In Puerto Rico, it seems a lot less common, certainly at a world title level, for this to happen. I’m guessing the reason this might be (more knowledgable posters can correct me) that it’s such a small island with a disproportionate number of world champions that even when there seems an opportunity for two world titlists or world level Puerto Ricans to face each other, there is not the appetite for it because retaining their status at world level is considered more important and that maybe that sense of regional identity within the country doesn’t exist in the same way as it does in Mexico or the UK. But that is a complete guess. I’d have to think pretty hard to think of all-Puerto Rican world championship fights (Gomez-LaPorte is the first one that comes to mind) but I can certainly think of some missed opportunities for world champions from the island to face off against each other. So which all-Puerto Rican matchups from the past can you think of and which ones would you like to have seen happen that didn’t and which hypothetical matchups between Puerto Ricans across eras would be the most interesting?
Completely forgot that one - good call! And a good point about Camacho being from NYC. The same is true of LaPorte fighting Gomez, another transplanted Puerto Rican (LaPorte) versus a native islander (Gomez). Perhaps why those happened? Camacho-Trinidad too.
Paging @AntonioMartin1 who should have some input here. I think Edwin Viruet fought Alfredo Escalera, Esteban DeJesus and Edwin Rosario but I don’t think any of them were title fights. But good observation by @Jel — never really noticed or thought about this before but I think it’s largely true.
I think that one thing that happened was that basketball grew in popularity there and Im not talking NBA, Im talking BSN as in the Puerto Rican National League. by 1979, we had a broacaster named Manolo Rivera Morales covering the BSN on TV. Back in 1964, this gentleman was crowned best broadcaster in the world at the 1964 Olympic Games in Japan, Everytime someone made a basket, he'd say "Apuntenlooooo!"" sort of like when people scream "goaaaalll!" in an association football game. If someone dunked the ball, he'd say "wooonderfuuull!" the same way, and if someone made a three point shot it was "(hold your) hands up! Hands up!!" We absolutely loved this. I watched basketball games just to hear him. Not only that but we had Mario Morales, Ruben Rodriguez, Angelo Cruz, Morales' brother in law Fedreico Lopez, NBA players Jose Ortiz and Ramon Rivas, Ramon Ramos, Raymond Dalmau, Mexican-American Julio Gallardo, Angelo Cruz,Bernardo Figueroa, Georgie Torres, brothers Edgar and Papiro Leon...Wesley Correa and Panamanians Mario Butler and Rolando Frazer. Basketball games were shown on tv during Tuesday and Thursday nights at 10 PM and during Saturday and Sundays at 2 and 10 PM during the basketball season. there were 16 teams in all the 16 largest cities except San Juan. Oddly San Juan at this time did not have a team but every other city among the top 17 cities in size had one. Rafael bracero, best known for his broadcasting of boxing fights, was another enthusiastic broadcaster of basketball games also during that era and lists basketball as his second most favorite sport apart from boxing. What does this have to do with boxing? Nothing and everything. You see, there were regional rivalries as you say. Ask someone from San Juan if they liked someone from Ponce or viceversa and you will see. Oh sure, people from San Juan flew to Ponce or drove there on vacation or business and people from Ponce flew to San Juan or drove there for business and shopping, or vacation, but they did not like each other, like that. Until a person from ponce was representing Puerto Rico at something, Sanjuaneros did not like Poncenos. Poncenos only liked Sanjuaneros if said Sanjuanero or Sanjuanera was representing all of Puerto Rico at something. BUt when basketball became popular, it took that rivalry and made it almost exclusively a basketball rivalry. Most people still watched boxing but now all the kids wanted to be Mario Morales or ruben rodriguez, not Wilfredo Gomez or Hector Camacho. In the late 1980s the WBO surged and itt pitted many Puerto Ricans against each other for their world titles but the WBO wasnt that well regarded back then. oh sure we watched, did we ever, but it did not feel as if it was a WBA, WBC or IBF bout. I considered them world title fights but by then most Puerto Ricans were like the rest of the world.."a title fight? IOh yeah? For which of the titles?" lol Molina-Laporte was one of the first title fights the WBO held between two Puerto Ricans, it is a most excellent title fight as Bill and ted would say! Watch it, dude, heavy metal! But since i havent been there in 34 years, i cannot say how much interest Puerto Rico vs Puerto Rico generates there these days. i heard however, that Dieppa-Sanchez back in the 00s, even featured the first run on the Puerto Rican train, with both boxers as special guests, so it must have somehow rebounded! As far as fights id love to have happened, Escalera-Serrano and Ocasio-De Leon would have unified world titles and enhanced the winner's legacy and chance to enter the IBHOF.
Some really interesting insights there - thanks for filling out my understanding of the situation! I always thought baseball was the popular sport other than boxing so interesting that it was basketball that was effectively where the rivalries happened. Regarding matchups that were naturals but never happened, I’d put Escalera-Serrano right at the top of the list: two world champs, both from Puerto Rico and fighting in the same weight class, plus long reigning titlists as well. Missed opportunity!
Going back a little further, I once asked Carlos Ortiz why he didn't defend his title against Frankie Narvaez. My reasoning was that Frankie was a top contender, that they were both Puerto Ricans, both based out of New York and both with their own respective followings. I said it would have sold out the Garden. He completely agreed with me on the aspects of an Ortiz-Narvaez fight but couldn't explain why it didn't take place.
Minor point, & only because a lot of people don’t actually realise this & are interested to find it so. Apologies if you already knew. Puerto Rico is not a nation, but part of the US.
Another overlooked title bout between PRs: Ivan Calderon vs Alex Sanchez for the WBO mini flyweight title.
