FIGHTLINE
Fights only last a matter of minutes, but fighters are connected to each other by chains that extend for
decades – even centuries – into the past. Their bond is a lineage built face-to-face: A young prospect struggles with the skills of an aging veteran whose nose was
OLIVARES TKO 9 CHACON JUNE 23, 1973
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once broken by a fighter now enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In that way, muscle memory carries knowledge and boxers face a piece
of everyone their opponent has fought, everyone those people fought, and so on. This month we’re linking two of the biggest attractions ever to emerge from the proud boxing nation of Mexico – Ruben Olivares and Canelo Alvarez. Olivares , who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991, is one of the greatest bantamweights of all time. “El Puas” was a phenomenal boxer- puncher who began his pro career with a 62-bout unbeaten streak (61-0-1, 57 KOs). Olivares’ fan-friendly style, happy- go-lucky personality, willingness to face the best of his era (1960s/’70s), and his rivalries with Chucho Castillo, Rafael Herrera and Bobby Chacon, earned him unparalleled popularity in Mexico and Southern California, where he routinely packed The Forum in Inglewood. Alvarez , a four-division champ, has been the Year is the only North American boxer capable of filling stadiums, which he’s done five times in Texas and once in Zapopan (near his native Guadalajara). He will do so again – in Las Vegas – when he takes on the challenge of fellow future Hall of Famer Terence Crawford in September. There are multiple paths linking the Mexican superstars, whose primes are separated by 50 years, but we found this four-boxer Fightline. Can you find a faster route? If so, or if you have another Fightline you’d like to submit, send it to comeoutwriting@gmail.com. And remember, some fighters can be linked on paper by jumping forward and backward in time, but to be a true lineage the fights must come in chronological order. the face of boxing since the close of the Mayweather/Pacquiao era 10 years ago. The two-time Ring Magazine Fighter of
LIMON UD 10 CHACON DECEMBER 7, 1975
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MITCHELL UD 8 LIMON MARCH 8, 1990
MAYWEATHER TKO 6 MITCHELL NOVEMBER 6, 2005 a
MAYWEATHER MD 12 ALVAREZ SEPTEMBER 14, 2013
96 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
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