The Price of the Top: The Reality Behind Champions

By Beka Romero

Thinking about boxing champions is thinking about fame, big cards, big purses, a world of celebrities and much more.

Names like Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, Jaime Munguia, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, Julio César Chávez and many more immediately come to mind.

We imagine these invincible boxers, public figures who dominate the ring with strength, grit and determination.

We saw and kept watching their fights from time to time: the great victories, the shocking knockouts, the belts, the celebrities they know, the recognition they receive from important authorities in the world, the applause from all the fans crowding giant venues but we rarely stop to consider what happens behind the cameras, below the ring, that fight that is rarely talked about.

Throughout the history of boxing, there have been many cases of boxers who have struggled outside the ring, physical health problems that in the long term and due to the repeated punches they receive to the head can be the cause of a retirement, or a mental health problem as is the current case of boxer Ryan Garcia that in the short term can have irreparable consequences on his professional career, his wellbeing and his family.

We rarely stop to reflect on what is experienced behind the “success” of a Champion, which ephemeral or not has its advantages and disadvantages, we rarely stop to not judge and see not only through a screen.

Behind every boxing champion there is much more than victories and belts. A champion is not only the one who has his hand raised or the one who receives a belt, but the one who goes up to a ring to give all the effort of training, camps and sacrifices of years, clinging with the same passion that led him to the first day of training.

Photos by Pepe Sulaimán