Marco Verde could be Mexico’s star at the Panamerican Games

Mexico selected 11 boxers including five girls to the upcoming Panamerican Games which will be held in Santiago de Chile from October 20.

Mexico claimed altogether 8 gold, 13 silver and 39 bronze medals in the boxing events of the Panamerican Games between 1951 and 2019.

Mexico is a traditional boxing country with excellent talents but many of their stars turned professional in their very early age.

Ingrid Alexa Gomez won the title at the 2023 AMBC American Elite Boxing Championships in Colombia and the 20-year-old boxer has the strong footwork to achieve another medal in Santiago de Chile.

The American Championships bronze medallist Gloria Fernandez will be Mexico’s team member at the women’s bantamweight (54kg) with experience from the previous main championships.

Jennifer Carrillo was silver medallist at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games but the 23-year-old hopeful was not able to make a strong breakthrough among the elite boxers yet.

The 28-year-old Esmeralda Falcon was an Olympian in Tokyo and she returned to the national team in time to compete at the women’s lightweight (60kg) in the next Panamerican Games.

Citlalli Ortiz won a gold medal in a big event as a member of Team USA but she switched back to Mexico to accomplish her goal, to be an Olympian in Paris next year.

Oscar Alberto Castaneda is a newcomer in the men’s flyweight (51kg) but his teammate Miguel Fernando Vega represented Mexico in all of the major championships in the previous two years.

Marco Alonso Verde is the star of the team, the American Champion is one of the gold medal favourites at the men’s light middleweight (71kg) despite his age of 21.

Rogelio Romero claimed a bronze medal at the 2023 World Boxing Championships, the 28-year-old boxer is the most experienced but the heavyweight (92kg) is a new category for him.

The American silver medallist Miguel Angel Martinez (63.5kg) and Javier Alejandro Cruz (+92kg) were still involved in the travelling team to Santiago de Chile.