A Battle of Testosterone

Photos above were obtained from www.endi.com

This morning, as I was reaching for the newspaper, I just couldn't believe my eyes. The front-page headline read as follows: "Como Heroé" (translation: "Like a Heroe") and it was accompanied by the second photo you see above. Here in PR, this past weekend, it was all about boxing. In fact, for two days in a row, the coverpage of all the local papers has been about boxing. This most recent match took place in New York's Madison Square Garden, and it was between the American Shane Mosley and (as you probably would've guessed by now) the Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto. As it turns out, there was no knockout. So, the judges had to decide the winner and they unanimously proclaimed Cotto as the winner. It was, by most accounts, an "excellent" fight.

Boxing, along with baseball and basketball, is extremely popular here. Personally, I just don't find boxing interesting. Inflicting pain on someone, and basking in the glory of it, is not something I enjoy watching. However, I think the popularity of boxing has to do with something more profound. Latino men are often stereotyped to be the macho type. From what I've seen, although there are always exceptions, I beg to differ. On the contrary, I see women as being more dominant and in control. Most of the gentlemen that I know are very attentive and loving to their wives/girlfriends and their mothers too! So, what to do with all that testosterone? Naturally, when they are amongst other males, they tend to talk a lot and they refer to their significant other as "mi mujer" (translation: "my woman").

The second outlet for Latino men to release their testosterone is through boxing. Perhaps, it allows them to maintain a sense of manhood. Sure, the men here are more aggressive and flirtatious. However, beneath that facade, you'll encounter a lot of love and tenderness.