Saturday Night Boxing In Boquete

This past Saturday, Boquete was having boxing matches. I haven’t been to a boxing match in eons and decided to go with a few male friends including my significant other. The men in this group had never seen a live boxing match and I found it surprisingly humorous. Just now, I’m thinking you know of all the things you may have never thought of doing in the past you will probably eventually do it. These guys came to Panama and saw a live boxing match for the first time, which they may have never done otherwise.
I remember my dad always watching boxing matches at home on the TV when I was a child. It was a routine event with him at least once a week. My dad was athletic having developed an interest in boxing in his teens at school and was on the football team as well. He was a very fit man at one time.

The boxing match titled "En Pie De Guerra" was held at Los Naranjos Gym in Boquete, it is a relatively new gym, having outdoor field as well for children and adult baseball games. This also is the same field that the “Festival of Kites” took place.
As I found out that evening boxing in Boquete is a family affair. During the boxing bouts one little girl sitting behind us with her parents starting yelling out "hit him" mimicking the adults.
A brother and sister were at ring side cheering for thier father who was in the ring boxing. Still cheering for their even as their father got hit with several jabs cutting the side of his face. But his children kept on supporting him with thier cheers. I have a photo here of the kids.

The doors opened before seven o’clock the ticket mentioning it was due to start at that time. However, as some people always do forget events do not start on time and the boxing would be no different thinking that it would start at seven o’clock, is purely an illusion on their part. I keep on having to remind some most Latino cultures being on time is not revered or expected. However, in order to get good sits we arrive

early, our seats were second row up front and good enough to take some photos watching the sweat knocked off some of the boxers while being jabbed. The match finally started at eight and ended past midnight. There were a total of eight matches and it was definitely a fun evening.

The boxers were Welterweight at 147-lbs./66.7 kg, Featherweight at 126-lbs. /57.2kg, and Light Fly-Weight at 108-lbs./49.0 kg. The total boxing rounds were based on the experience of the boxers and it was a good thing because some of the young men had very little maneuvering boxing skills. I was very impressed noticing a doctor present close to the ring that night. There were a few bleeders and some bruised eyes, no knockouts though, and when more clinching than hitting took place, the crowd would jeer loudly. In one match, two of boxers did not like each other and started bashing their heads until the ref stopped them. All bouts were between 4 to 8 rounds. Boxing cannot be without the models prancing about and on that evening they were in their skimpy blue outfits strutting around the ring carrying a sign depicting the round while the men in the audience whistled and carried on.

All of the opponent boxers were either from the Capital of Panama, Nicaragua, or Guatemala the others were home boys from the Chiriqui Province. So who received the most cheers? You guessed it the Chiriqui boxer and the majority of them won.

Chiricanos are very proud of their Province maybe it is because the Chiriqui Province supplies 50% of all the fruits and vegetables for all of Panama. On the other hand, Chiricanos are known for their beautiful horses, good horsemanship and just possibly, it’s a result of the large and successful coffee plantations strewn throughout the countryside. Some of the best coffee in the world is grown in Boquete. The people of this wonderful province boasts beautiful black volcanic soil think there is no better place in the world. Therefore, Chiricanos have a lot to be proud of. When a Panamanian says he is from Chiriqui, he says it with pride.

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