A male American boxing champion will seldom put his belt on the line in his opponent’s backyard - Floyd Mayweather Jr, the world’s highest paid athlete, has not fought a single professional bout abroad.
But women’s boxing in the US is a different story. It tells a tale of female pugilists often looking outside their home base for better opportunities.
New York resident Alicia “Slick” Ashley lost her WBC Super Bantamweight belt in a very close match in Mexico City last September. Her challenger, Tijuana native Jackie “Aztec Princess” Nava, was Mexico’s best.
Ashley, 47, is one of several female boxing champions taking their chances south of the border, a telling indication that Mexico is embracing the sport in a way that its northern neighbour hasn’t in years. Experts go as far as wondering whether US women’s boxing will see better days or die a slow death.