Inclusion and the fight for fair causes has been linked to boxing since its beginnings. Causes adapted to each era, yet with the same mindset. This is the case of Soledad Vargas, a professional fighter who has taken up activism for women and against feminicide.
It is common to see her get into the ring in her fights with the hashtag #NiUnaMenos and with names of women who have suffered from femicide. She has become a voice on a transcendental issue as she pursues her professional career.
A native of Michoacán, she started very young in sports, specifically soccer, as journalist Alejandra del Castillo tells in an article written for La-Lista. Yes. However, the influence of boxing in her family was high, since her grandfather had been a boxer and her father took her to see boxing card since she was a child.
At the age of 12 she started boxing and quickly caught the courage and energy of the sport, which is why she has grown within it and has helped her to forge her character and criteria that has helped her to transcend both in and out of the ring.
But her motivation to follow the cause, even though she does not consider herself a feminist as they are defined today, was the fact that she heard about the famous feminicide of Marichuy and saw the claims of her mother Yesenia Zamudio in 2020. At that moment, Sol saw her mother’s reflection and it touched her heart.
“I know she would do it, I know she would do the same,” said Soledad “If they do the same to my son, I will do the same,” she continued.
Although she did not understand the feminist struggle and the marches at first, she said she judged them without knowing them and the individual motive that made them carry out certain activities.
“I felt guilty at the time, because I knew several stories from several female boxers where they cried out that the coach harassed them,” Sol said in the press release.
That also led her to be a voice for female fighters who have suffered different incidents and had remained silent. Sol has stood up for all of them and has encouraged them to speak up, to defend themselves and to be united, which has enormous merit.
Her trunks are always full of names as a way of honoring those women who are no longer with us or those who have suffered abuse. Sol uses boxing as a means while fulfilling her dreams, which is an admirable situation and one for which the sport should thank her.
