Thoughts on a boxing death
In the aftermath of the death of 18-year-old Mexican boxer Jeanette Zacarias Zapata after a fight in Montreal against Canadian Marie Pier Houle, the criticism that’s been leveled at the promoter who made the fight and the commission that approved it is neither unfair nor misplaced. And yet ... you know what we say about hindsight. Had that same matchup been made here in New Mexico, and had I been aware of it as a reporter, I probably wouldn’t have batted an eye. I’m not aware that anyone did so in this instance. Maybe I’ve been involved in boxing for too long, or perhaps with one eye closed. And maybe I’m not alone. Certainly, Zacarias Zapata’s death was both tragic and preventable. “Better commission could have prevented this from happening in Canada ...” wrote Albuquerque’s Andy Rivera, a boxing writer and a former amateur boxer, on Facebook. “If commissions would truly look at records and quit letting local promoted fighter A have a huge advantage over fighter B thing...