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Max
Zuniga Lavandera was born on
January 5, 1966 in Ensenada,
Mexico, and lived there until
the age of seventeen when he
moved to
Tijuana to
begin his university degree as
an accountant
at Universidad Autonoma de Baja
California (UABC).
His father passed away
in 1987
when Max was
twenty-one, and
half-way through his education,
but his mother and sister still
resides in Ensenada,
a coastal city locally referred
to as
La Cenicienta del Pacifico,
The Cinderella of the Pacific.
While football
(soccer) is the number-one sport
in Mexico,
boxing is a clear number two,
and
most
males
in the country
have at least some kind of
interest in boxing,
if not an
outright passion for the sport.
It
was no different in the Zuniga
household.
For Max his interest really took
off when he was around nine
years old, in a time where great
champions such as Alexis
Arguello and Roberto Duran were
on top, and Salvador Sanchez,
Marvin Hagler, and Sugar Ray
Leonard were making their way
towards it.
He never boxed competitively
himself, but Max became a
student of the sport and read
any boxing magazine or book he
could get his hands on, and
watched as many fights as
possible.
Like so many other Mexicans, his
all-time favorite boxer turned
out to be the great Julio Cesar
Chavez, who began his
professional career when Max was
a teenager in the early
eighties.
While he was very passionate
about
The Sweet Science,
Zuniga never had a chance to
pursue an active involvement
outside of being a fan, until
later in life.
As a young man he focused on his
education, and eventually began
a
successful
career as an accountant, which
brought him to San Diego,
California in the United States,
where he
lived fifteen years and
worked seventeen years
in a management position
for
different companies.
These days he is back living in
Tijuana,
only
a few miles south of San Diego,
where he works for a Riverside,
California company which has
its
administrative office in the
border city.
Divorced fourteen years
ago,
Max
has five children: Jessica
(31),
Miguel
Angel (30)
and
Jose
(27),
who all live in Tijuana,
and
the two youngest
Guisell
(26)
and
Andre
(23),
who are based in San Diego.
It was during
this
his second period in Tijuana
where
he finally got a foot in the
door for a career in boxing.
In 2009 Zuniga got his start as
a judge and referee in local
amateur tournaments, and quickly
proved good enough to move on to
the professional
ranks
the following year. Currently he
is a judge licensed by the
Tijuana Boxing Commission, and
has worked more than
one-thousand bouts.
Noticing Zuniga´s skills as a
judge, as well as his
professionalism,
passion
and integrity, former World
Boxing Federation (WBF) Mexico
Representative Sergio Sotelo
eventually invited Max to become
an official WBF
arbitrator.
“Sergio
taught me a lot about the
business-side of professional
boxing, and provided me with
great opportunities to work WBF
Championship fights”, explains
Zuniga.
“When
Sergio decided to step down from
his position, it was an honor
for me to be offered to take
over as WBF Mexico
Representative, and I happily
accepted.”
In his role, Zuniga takes great
pride in promoting the WBF at
every level, not only with
boxing people but also in the
community. He is constantly in
contact with promoters and
managers, seeking opportunities
for boxers that are very
talented but have few chances to
fight for championships.
He also strives to enhance
women's boxing in Mexico, to
bring women the opportunity to
fight for titles with the same
conditions and pay as their male
counterparts.
But all his work is done knowing
full well that he is up against
it, in a boxing-environment very
much set in its ways.
“The
boxing business has changed”,
says Zuniga. “The big
entities
want to make the most of
everything, so when we in the
past had one absolute champion
we now have many champions in
every weight class, and its no
longer as much about pride and
recognition as it is about
making money.”
“Mexico
is a great land of champions,
and since I was a child I
remember watching some of the
greatest champions such as
Vicente Saldivar, Ruben
Olivares, Miguel Canto, Gustavo
Espadas, Gilberto Roman,
Salvador Sanchez, Alfonso
Zamora and many more."
"The
business in Mexico is “captured”
mainly by only two big promoters
across the nation, and covered
by the two major TV channels. We
can say its a monopoly of two,
where they control the majority
of the big name fighters and set
the tone in terms of money,
coverage and opportunities.”
“On
top of that, the WBC plays a key
role in everything I just
mentioned. They more or less
control and dictate who, when,
where and how boxing is run in
Mexico, which, along with the
monopoly of 2, makes things
extremely difficult.”
“But,
despite all this, WBF Mexico has
gained some ground, and step by
step we gain recognition among
boxers, managers and promoters
up to a certain level. Remember,
at the very top only certain
players are allowed...”
“That
being said, we have had great
champions in the past, which
opens the door for others and
make people turn their heads our
way and see us as a force with
world recognition. After all, it
is the boxers who make an
organization great, not the
other way around.”
“The
WBF Mexico title, as well as the
North America title and the
International title are all
highly requested here, and the
plan is of course to expand our
operation to do more World and
Intercontinental championship
fights in Mexico.”
“After
all, and despite all the
obstacles, Mexico is the land of
opportunity for boxing, and the
WBF cant be the exception to the
rule.”
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