Everyone knows that Mexicans love to play sports, but do you know the sports that have been most important in the formation of Mexico? Here are the most popular sports in Mexico. Without them the country wouldn’t be the same!
The Most Popular Sports In Mexico
Football
No surprises there, then! Like many countries the world over, football is Mexico’s favorite sport. Called association football or fútbol, this sport has been played at a professional level in Mexico since 1943. Liga MX is the premier league, home to eighteen teams competing including Tigres UANL and C.D. Guadalajara.
If you’d prefer some lower league action, then look for matches in the Ascenso MX, Liga Premier, and Tercera División leagues. For all of these leagues, there are two tournaments rather than one long season; Apertura which is held in the summer, and Clausura in the winter. And on the international football scene, Mexico has qualified consecutively for the Fifa World Cup since 1994, one of only six national teams to do so! In short, wherever you visit in Mexico and whatever level you prefer, you are sure to find some football to watch.
Boxing
Boxing is the most popular individual sport in Mexico. Mexico is second only to the U.S. when it comes to world champions produced, and in the last thirty years Mexico has actually produced more champions than any other country. Some of the most famous Mexican boxers are Ruben Olivares, who has fought 105 times winning 89 and losing only thirteen, and Julio Cesar Chavez, who has 115 fights to his name, of which 107 were won and only six lost.
Of course, we can’t mention Mexican boxers without talking about Canelo Álvarez, who is currently considered the world’s best boxer. He may have only had 55 fights to date, but winning 52 of them is impressive! There are plenty of places to both watch and compete in amateur boxing if that’s your thing throughout Mexico, especially in Mexico City.
Baseball
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Baseball is a popular sport of Mexico that gained popularity in certain regions after it was brought by the American soldiers on the Mexican soil during the Mexican War. Today it has two leagues – a 16-team Summer League (Mexican League of Baseball) and an 8-team Winter League (Mexican Pacific League) that bring laurels to the country. While baseball has had its glorious moments in the past (Monterrey Little League team and outstanding players from Negro Leagues and American Leagues), today it essentially remains a regional sport.
Taekwondo
This is quite astonishing but Mexicans are heavily into this Korean form of martial art. With the Korean expatriates choosing to settle in Mexico, it was only a matter of time that their native combat technique would go on to become one of the most practiced sports in Mexico. There are about 3,500 Taekwondo training schools in Mexico that produce proficient Taekwondo practitioners and medal winners. Mexico has won two Gold Medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a Bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and continues to lend support to Taekwondo aspirants who dream to compete at the Olympics.
Bull fighting
While most of the world has outlawed bullfighting because it is seen as cruelty towards animals, Mexico is one of the eight remaining countries in the world where it is legal. Brought by the Spanish conquistadores over 500 years ago, bullfighting has become a part of the fiber of the country. Outside of Spain, Mexico has the most important bullfighting events and toreros (bull fighters) in the world.
The performance takes place in three rounds, each progressively bloodier as the bull is stabbed and brought to exhaustion by the bull fighter and picador until, in the final act, the torero stabs the bull between the shoulder blades and kills it. A bloody tradition, it is nevertheless full of pomp, circumstance and, some would say, beauty.
Fronton
Also called Basque pelota, the first versions of this game were created in the Basque country of Spain in the 1800s. The sport eventually made its way to Mexico and several important fronton clubs opened in Mexico City from the 1890s to the 1920s, including Fronton Mexico, which just last year re-opened with a new season of a Jai Alai (a type of Basque pelota played with scoop-like baskets on the players’ hands).
The idea of the game is similar to handball – on a rectangular court players hit a hard ball (usually with their hands) against a main wall (called a fronton, or front wall) and get points for where it bounces back on the court, while their opponents have to try to return the serve. Where once there were fronton courts all over Mexico, they are slowly becoming extinct and the game is losing popularity to other sports, like soccer.
