Culiacán, Sinaloa. – The lights of the municipal gymnasium assigned as if the entire city contained its breath. Nobody imagined that that afternoon, between sweaty bags and broken dreams, a story would be born that would move all of Mexico: a skinny and desperate young man would challenge the greatest champion that this country has ever seen, Julio César Chávez.

His name: Mateo Reyes. Age: 21 years. Modest record: 8-3. Appearance: too thin to be medium weight, too slow to be pen. But with something that is not measured in statistics or muscles: heart.

What he did that afternoon in Culiacán was, for many, a suicidal act. For others, a necessary madness. For him, the only way out.

“I want to challenge you, Mr. Chávez,” he said, in a firm voice, when the legendary champion asked to see local talent. A funeral silence seized the enclosure. Some laughed. His coach, Ramón, almost passed out. But July, with that look that scan souls more than bodies, saw something. And he accepted … with one condition: face first to the fearsome “Shadow” Mendoza, a semi-professional with 22-1 record.

A beating … with purpose

Mateo was dragged by the ring as an old rag. They fell blows like rain. In the first round I already had a swollen eye, blood in the eyebrow, the legs trembling. But it didn’t fall. He did not give up.

Julio watched, impassively. I studied. Not his (poor) technique, or his defense (non -existent), but his soul.

At the end of the second round, with the towel in the air, Mateo shouted: “Did Don Julio? Or do we continue?” And the answer was historical:

“I have seen enough … to know that you have something that is not taught: heart.”

The rest was a whirlwind. Julio offered him work as Sparring of Mendoza himself. A few months later, Matthew not only resisted, but improved. Hit after blow, round after round. He stopped being the madman. He became “the tireless.”

Of sparring… the protagonist

After months of effort, Julio fulfilled his word: he offered him a professional fight. Not as a consolation prize, but on the billboard of a fight for the regional title.

The fight was brutal. The rival, a veteran with a 15-0 record. But Mateo was no longer the same desperate boy. I had learned. He had suffered. And he had grown up.

In the last round, with everything against, he recalled a combination he had seen in the old Chávez videos. An alage with the shoulder, a devastating uppercut. It was Knockout.

The stadium exploded. Julio, on the edge of the ring, smiled proudly. It wasn’t just a victory. It was the birth of a warrior.

The Loco who became legend

Today, two years later, Mateo “The Challenging” Reyes prepares to dispute the national title. His 12-3 record does not tell the whole story. But his reputation as one of the bravest boxers in Mexico yes.

When a journalist asked him about that day he challenged Julio César Chávez, Mateo smiled and said:

“Maybe I was crazy. But when life corlons you, sometimes madness is the only way to sanity.”

From the first row, Julio himself nodded, without saying a word. Because he knows better than anyone: in boxing, as in life, he does not always win the strongest … but he who never stops fighting.