Muhammad Ali en Tijuana---NOT
Posted: 23 Dec 2007, 18:14
When Ali was in San Diego training for his bout with Norton,I watched both fellas train. Norton worked very hard and was very serious. Ali spent most of the time with a microphone talking to the audience telling everyone how he was going to beat Ken "Fartin". Any way Ali must have crossed the border into Tijuana. He bought some Reyes boxing equipment:heavy bags,sparring gloves. Reyes makes good stuff. The leather is soft and the gloves have a nice feel. Ali liked what he bought.
Ali was to do a day's training in Tijuana. There were posters up all over the city on telephone polls and walls:Muhammad Ali en Tijuana. A few were written in English,but it was a nice poster. A picture of Ali in his fighting stance,mentioning his sparring partners Tony Doyle and Billy Joiner. I grabbed as many as I could because I had a hunch they'd be worth something one day.
But Ali never went back to Tijuana. He called it off. Ali never explained why,but here's my guess for what it's worth. Mexico never thought much of him. At the time he was probably the most noticible person in the world,but Mexicans could care less. They don't like a fighter that brags and insults his opponent. It's a little different now in Mexico(don't confuse Vargas in this. He's Chicano,an American. BIG difference) But when Ali would start reciting poetry and then top it off by saying"I'm pretty" that's about as un macho a statement a Mexican male can make. To be a little ugly and a little fat is a virtue. That's probably why my Mexican wife was attracted to me. As the saying goes in Mexico,"Un hombre como un oso es mas hermoso"(A man like a bear is more attractive) Viva Mexico when it comes to my looks.
Ali was to do a day's training in Tijuana. There were posters up all over the city on telephone polls and walls:Muhammad Ali en Tijuana. A few were written in English,but it was a nice poster. A picture of Ali in his fighting stance,mentioning his sparring partners Tony Doyle and Billy Joiner. I grabbed as many as I could because I had a hunch they'd be worth something one day.
But Ali never went back to Tijuana. He called it off. Ali never explained why,but here's my guess for what it's worth. Mexico never thought much of him. At the time he was probably the most noticible person in the world,but Mexicans could care less. They don't like a fighter that brags and insults his opponent. It's a little different now in Mexico(don't confuse Vargas in this. He's Chicano,an American. BIG difference) But when Ali would start reciting poetry and then top it off by saying"I'm pretty" that's about as un macho a statement a Mexican male can make. To be a little ugly and a little fat is a virtue. That's probably why my Mexican wife was attracted to me. As the saying goes in Mexico,"Un hombre como un oso es mas hermoso"(A man like a bear is more attractive) Viva Mexico when it comes to my looks.
That's a good story, but people in Mexico never seemed to mind Barrera not only insulting but calling out and attacking his opponents before fights and after the final bell, which would support your "It's different now" theory. I think Barrera is one of the more boisterous Mexican fighters in history. Jorge Arce and Fernando Montiel are good current examples of it as well