Mayor Jorge Ramos Assures That Tijuana Is A Safe Place To Host A Latin Fury 8
Posted by Igor Frank on 03.11.2009
Hall of fame promoter Bob Arum, mayor of Tijuana Jorge Ramos and the secretary of tourism Oscar Escobedo had to answer some very tough questions to convince both fans and media that the Bull Ring in Tijuana is a great venue for Latin Fury Eight.
Tijuana used to be a huge party town. Many students from California and Arizona couldn't wait for a spring brake to go to TJ and get drunk and party with friends and sometimes do things that they wouldn't do at home. However, news about drug wars in Mexico and stories about tourist kidnappings changed all that. Arizona state department issued stern warnings for students not to go to Mexico. Many Californians decided to refrain from going to Mexico, better to be safe than sorry.
Despite all that, hall of fame promoter Bob Arum decided to stage a great boxing event, Latin Fury 8, a card loaded with talent, right in Tijuana Mexico at the famous Bull Ring.
Televised via Top Rank Pay per View, Latin Fury 8 is scheduled for Saturday, March 28th, 2009 and will feature a wealth of talent. Undefeated prospects Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Argentine Luciano Cuello will go 12 rounds for a vacant WBO Latino light middleweight title. Fernando Montiel will jump in weight to challenge Diego Oscar Silva for the interim WBO bantamweight title. Montiel is working to acquire a bantamweight title which will help him to secure a showdown with Vic Darchinyan. Humberto Soto will defend his WBC super featherweight title against Antonio Davis. Veteran Jose Luis Castillo will face Antonio Diaz in a ten round welterweight bout.
Despite this very impressive line up, the telephone conference that took place on Monday March 9th had absolutely nothing to do with match ups; instead it dealt solely with the safety of American fight fans and media in Tijuana, Mexico.
The Honorable Jorge Ramos, mayor of Tijuana invited all the media to come out and cover this boxing card citing that Tijuana has been a host to various big sporting events in the past year without incident. He went on to say that Tijuana is like any other major city in US is not without crime, but yet he felt comfortable guaranteeing the safety of American tourists, as long as they used common sense.
The Secretary of Tourism Oscar Escobedo was questioned about his nephew being gunned down recently. He felt that this unfortunate incident should not prevent Americans from visiting Tijuana. According to Escobedo 25 million people visit Tijuana each year, 18 million come from United States. Secretary Escobedo also discussed an FBI report released this January that confirmed the safety of Tijuana, because most of the violence and murders takes place in Juarez, Mexico, far away from the border.
Finally, promoter Bob Arum exclaimed: "Would I bring my family here, if I did not feel safe? We have vacationed here for the last ten years and I feel as safe here as anywhere else." That is good enough for me.
The honorable Jorge Ramos offered free accommodations to members of American media to cover this event. Tijuana is the city that depends on tourism and city officials want to do everything that is in their power to bring it back to the way it used to be.
Meanwhile Bull Ring with a capacity of 22 thousand fans will host a great night of boxing on March, 28th. If you are a boxing fan consider taking a trip to Tijuana that weekend.
