Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 5, 1993 TAG: 9309050037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG LOGAN NEWSDAY
DATELINE: MEXICO CITY LENGTH: Long
Word goes out through the narrow streets of the meat-packing district, where the air is pungent with the aroma from just-butchered sides of beef and dripping bushel baskets of freshly plucked chickens being loaded into delivery trucks under the noon-day sun.
In no time at all, parents carrying toddlers, laborers in dusty work clothes and teen-age street peddlers find their way to Gimnasio Nuevo Jordan, where they climb five flights of stairs to the boxing gym to await the arrival of Julio Cesar Chavez, the man who fights for all of Mexico.
Ordinarily, Chavez trains in the small village of Temoaya, which is 11,800 feet above sea level on the side of a rugged mountain called Xinantecatl, where the Otomi Indians worship at a huge monument to the weather gods that rule the harvest. Or, he works out in nearby Toluca, an industrial center south of Mexico City, where American corporations - including Chrysler, DuPont, Nestle and Pfizer - have relocated to take advantage of the low wages for Mexican workers.
But on this August day, Chavez is coming down from the mountains to touch base with the people and to promote his fight with Norfolk's Pernell Whitaker on Friday in San Antonio. At stake is Whitaker's World Boxing Council welterweight championship and the undisputed title of best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Without question, the latter designation currently belongs to Chavez, whose 87-0 record and 13-year undefeated span is unmatched in boxing history. In that time, Chavez has scored 75 knockouts and never been knocked off his feet.
That is why Chavez, 31, is the most worshipped sports icon in a land that treats its gods with great reverence. At Gimnasio Nuevo Jordan (pronounced new-WAVE-o HOAR-don), there are two shrines, though on a much more humble scale than the ancient structure at Temoaya. One is the photo gallery, featuring Salvador Sanchez, the world featherweight champion who died in an alcohol-related auto accident in 1982, and Chavez, who succeeded Sanchez in the hearts of the Mexican people.
The other equally traditional shrine is a picture of the Virgin Mary located directly above the mirror boxers face while choreographing their ring ballet. The Madonna is framed in blue neon with a red neon crown glowing above her bowed head. Three small potted cactus plants are mounted on the wall to each side and below the picture. Believing they can reach greater heights if blessed by the Virgin, Mexican boxers sometimes make offerings to the shrine in this temple of sweat.
As Chavez batters his sparring partners for six rounds, he is watched closely by the other young boxers, many of whom don't have enough money to purchase proper boxing shoes and instead wear simple tennis shoes or hiking boots to train. To these youngsters, Chavez is the living embodiment of their dreams and prayers, the boxer who escaped the poverty that shapes the Mexican landscape.
Finishing his workout with a shadowboxing session under the neon Madonna, Chavez answers a few questions from television reporters and then goes back to the seclusion of the mountains. The next day in Toluca, while watching TV coverage of the pope's visit to Merida, he explains through an interpreter why boxers are so important in Latin cultures as symbols of both hope and suffering.
"Most people in my country come from humble homes," Chavez said. "They see boxing as the great escape to fame and fortune. In reality, few attain it because it is a very difficult sport."
Chavez is the blessed one who climbed over all the bodies in the notoriously macho Mexican boxing wars to reach the top of the pyramid. He will make $5 million for the Whitaker fight, which is his largest purse and is $2 million more than Whitaker will receive. There was a time when Chavez was grateful for a plate of rice and beans. Now, his favorite food is sushi, but he hasn't lost touch with the essential hunger that drove him to such heights.
"No matter how much I triumph, I will continue to be the same person. I can't change my roots because of fame and fortune," he said. Although he is aware that he always carries the hopes of the Mexican people, Chavez added, "When I enter the ring, I am fighting for myself. At times, I think of Mexico and pictures of my children come up in my mind, but basically, I'm thinking of myself. There's pressure, but I try to relax and concentrate so I will not lose what I've gained."
It is only in the past three years that Chavez's purses for major fights have reached seven figures, but during his long career he has maintained an average of one fight every two months. In the beginning, his only goal was to take care of a family that included six other brothers and three sisters. With his first significant paycheck, he bought his mother, Isabel, a washing machine. As his wealth grew, he was able to subsidize small business interests and to buy houses and cars for everyone in his family and eventually to provide jobs for many of his cousins, friends and relatives of his wife, Amalia.
Chavez owns 19 cars, including three limousines, a Jaguar and a Lamborghini, and he has gotten into real estate development, constructing two major office buildings, four gas stations (with another four to come) and about 15 homes, as well as buying property in the United States. Each of his three sons, Julio Jr., 7, Omar, 3, and Christian, 1, is set for life as a millionaire with homes, stocks and college funds.
In recent years, Chavez has expanded the boundaries of his generosity to include his native town of Culiacan and several Mexican charities. He has plans to build a 3,000-unit low-income housing project in Culiacan, where he has established a food program that provides bags of rice, beans, flour and corn to poor families. In between title fights, Chavez fights benefit bouts against lesser opponents in towns throughout Mexico and turns over the entire purse to charity. He has contributed approximately $5 million to charity in the past two years, according to a close associate.
"You have to be able to give when God has given you so much," said Chavez, who describes his religious faith as meaning "everything" to him.
As a youth, his family was not so blessed. His father, Rodolfo, was a railroad worker, and the family lived in an old caboose until they could afford to move into a small two-bedroom flat in Culiacan, a place widely viewed as a bandido town because the major industries seems to be drugs and murder.
Chavez's mother did ironing for others, which pained little Julio, who was the closest of all to his mother. He worked selling gum and newspapers on the streets and gave the money to his mother for food. She called him "little father" because of his determination to help provide for the family.
"I told my mother, as long as we had rice and beans, I would be happy," Chavez recalled.
When he wasn't working, Chavez was playing constantly at soccer, baseball, running and boxing. Some thought his future was in soccer, but he displayed a special passion for boxing at an early age. His older brothers, Rodolfo Jr. and Rafael, were top amateur boxers, but whenever they lost, little Julio would be furious with them.
"I got very angry and said I would never let anyone beat me," Chavez said. "I told them I would be the one to be undefeated."
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by CNB