Introducción al deporte mexicano y su influencia en la sociedad, política y economía nacional

Sport in México: Role in society, politics and over/under support
The sport has always performed a great role in México since even before México existed and was Mesoamerica, as many ball courts havebeen found in Prehispanic cultures, including the ball games of the internationally-recognized Ulama or the spectacular Pelota Purhépecha. In those times, sport activities were literally, a religiousact. Not much has changed since, as some people still go to the stadium (now of other sports such as football) religiously and pray for and follow their teams.
Association football arrived to Méxicoin 1901, when English workers played the first football association-ruled match in Real del Monte, Hidalgo. Now, football represents a crucial part of Mexican society and economy and to a lesserextent, politics.
Our first case study for this will be boxing. México has gained a worldwide recognition for being the 2nd most powerful nation in boxing and the best in lower classes. This recognitionhas been gained since 1933, when José “Battling Shaw” Pérez Torres won the first World Championship for the country; but I will refer to a case that exemplifies the roles correctly: Raúl “Ratón”Macías.
Macías was an idol to the whole country due to his background: He came as a poor young man from the “Barrio Bravo” of Tepito in México City, one of the poorest parts of the metropolitan area. Thesociety felt represented by Raúl, and his success inspired many young men to go and earn a living through boxing as an opportunity of overcoming poverty and earning success.
It is a fact that the oldwomen from the country light their candles and prayed for “Ratón” to win…And he just answered: “I just owe it all to my manager and the Virgin of Guadalupe”. This image is one that threw in a lot ofmoney and increased the support of boxing. Now, México has had more than 150 World Boxing Champions and worldwide figures such as: Julio César Chávez, Salvador Sánchez, José Nápoles, Humberto...