After seeing the back and forth brawl between Mexican veteran Rafael Marquez and Puerto Rican titlist Juan Manuel Lopez, in which Lopez won by technical knock out, when Marquez could not continue due to a shoulder injury. I started thinking about the long rivalry between Puerto Rico and Mexico and started asking myself, what was the first real Puerto Rico vs Mexico battle and how did this rivalry start? I mean the oldest fight i can think of between Puerto Rico and Mexico is the epic battle between hall of famers Salvador Sanchez and Wilfredo Gomez in which Sanchez stopped Gomez in the eight round. Were there fights before this that sparked the Mexico Puerto Rico feud? 

Another question is, in this fued between the two countries, who is winning so far? Is it Mexico with victories, such as Salvador Sanchez stopping Wilfredo Gomez, Julio Cesar Chavez shutting out Hector Camacho, Antonio Margarito dismantling Miguel Cotto, or is it Puerto Rico with wins like Tito Trinidad defeating Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas (with the exception that both those fighters are not Mexican, but of Mexican descent), Hector Camacho beating up Rafael LImon in five rounds and I'm sure there are plenty of others.  

There have been two Mexico vs Puerto Rico battles this year. The great battle between brawler Giovanni Segura and technical boxer Ivan Calderon and of course the Rafael Marquez Juan Manuel Lopez brawl. Both fights were outstanding! With out a doubt Fight of the Year Candidates, we can only hope to see more of these outstanding Mexico vs Puerto brawls in the future!  

2010 has not really had as much great and exciting bouts as did 2009 but some just might be the fight of the year. One candidate I would was the Antonio Escalante Miguel Roman fight. That fight was a straight out good old fashion brawl! the first seven rounds were even rounds with out a doubt, giving the fans their moneys worth for sure! Until the eighth round where Escalante threw a heavy combination and knocked down Roman once. Roman got up and continued to fight! It was a good fight that lead Escalante as the victor by and ten round unanimous decision. Another great fight that happened through out the year was the Mikkel Kessler Carl Froch fight. It was an exciting and thrilling fight! You could tell neither fighter wanted to lose and had tremendous heart! But at the end Froch lost his WBC strap in a close split decision loss, which left Kessler as the new titleholder in the thrill packing Super Six Tournament! Those were only two great fights that i named this I'm sure their will be more to come later this year. Any other great fights so far?

On September 18 you will see rising Mexican star Saul Alvarez fight on the under card of Shane Mosley Sergio Mora

bout, which will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. He will be fighting veteran and former title holder Carlos

Baldomir, In front of thousands of screaming Mexican fans! Which asks the question can Saul Alvarez live to the

hype? Can he be as great as a Marco Antonio Barrera or even a Julio Cesar Chavez? We will have to see to find out.

And if he does not live up to the hype who will be the next great Mexican star the boxing world  has been waiting for?

Can it be Abner Mares, Juan Carlos Burgos, or even Julio Cesar Chavez Jr?