5. Raúl “Ratón” Macías vs José “Toluco” López (professionally)
First off, a retro fight. Raúl Macías was the first absolute Mexican superstar and one of the most gifted Latinos to practice the sweet science. Toluco López, on the other hand, was a national icon that didn’t earn his rightful place internationally for having never won a world championship.
Little known anecdote: these two did actually fight as amateurs. They disputed the chance to represent Mexico at the 1952 Olympic Games. Ratón won and went to Helsinki.
Macías was an unprecedented media phenomenon, while López was more of a people’s champ. Because of their popularity, both fighters meant a huge paycheck. So why didn’t the fight take place? Their management teams did not get to an agreement and that was it. They called each other out for years, amidst accusations of ducking. As with many great old-school boxers, the public outcry of the time has since been forgotten.
My father Toby Vigil Mexican lightweight, California State Champion, was a popular fan favorite at the famous Hollywood Legion Stadium. Known for his movie star good looks and flashy boxing style, Vigil had some epic fights during his career. Toby fought both popular Mexican fighters, Baby Arizmendi and Rodolfo Babyface Casanova. Matched against the popular Mexican Champion Casanova., the bout was held at the Stadium Nacional, in Mexico City. In 1938. The fight was a classic battle held in enemy territory with a boisterous, vociferous crowd. Casanova relentlessly pursued my father post to post attempting to land the big right hand he was known for, all the while eating punishing left/right combinations leaving Casanova’s face a bloody mess with both eyes swollen shut. At the end of ten rounds the referee awarded my dad a hard fought unanimous decision over the Mexican Champion. In 1941 at the Hollywood Legion Stadium, he fought Baby Arizmendi losing a closely contested decision. He said Arizmendi was a very fierce opponent, in which he had to use his left hand overtime, having broke his right hand on Arizmendi’s head in the first round.