“The Champion without a Crown”: Remembering Rodolfo Casanova and Mexico’s First Golden Age of Boxing

This paper examines how Mexicans remembered and mythologized Rodolfo “Chango” (“Monkey”) Casanova (1915-1980), a boxing idol during the first “Golden Age” of Mexican boxing in the 1930s.  Through film and biography, Mexicans used Casanova’s life to establish the “typical” narrative of the boxer: A man from humble urban origins who rises to fortune and fame, only to succumb to excess and return to destitute poverty.  His life-story was often used as a warning to Mexican boxers who did not take disciplined approaches to finances, sex, or alcohol use. Casanova migrated to Mexico City as a young man and used the sport to assert his masculine honor in his new environs. Writers celebrated Casanova’s rise from ice cream vendor to elite boxer, but also critiqued him when he squandered his wealth.  Chroniclers called Casanova “depraved” and “ignorant,” and frequently blamed his indigenous background for his inability to adjust to modern life.   Despite this racialization of Casanova, he still received praise for his boxing exploits and for the joy he instilled in fans who watched him. Relying upon cinema, archived biographies, and the sporting press, this paper sheds light on how race, urbanization, gender, and popular culture intersected with memory in shaping Mexican national culture in the mid to late twentieth century.