Rudy Mondragón
Assistant Professor of Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies | Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA, UNITED STATES
Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
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Biography
Dr. Rudy Mondragón is an interdisciplinary scholar who bridges ethnic studies with the sociology of race and sport to illuminate often dismissed sporting sites of resistance and the political economy of boxing. Mondragón has published in Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies, Journal of Sports History, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, and UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute. He is currently working on "On The Ropes: Performances of Dignity and Resistance within The Brutal Economy of Boxing," a book manuscript that examines the political economy of boxing and the ways Black and Brown boxers deploy expressive culture to perform resistance via the ring entrance. Dr. Mondragón is also working on "Rings of Dissent: Boxing and the Performance of Rebellion" (University of Illinois Press, 2025), co-edited with Gaye Theresa Johnson and David J. Leonard. As an authoritative voice in boxing, he has been featured in ESPN, Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, Boxing Scene, CNN, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Times and has written for Zocalo Public Square, LA Taco, Remezcla, and We Are Mitu. In 2021, actress, producer, and director Eva Longoria interviewed him for the Sundance-debuted DAZN documentary “La Guerra Civil,” a film that delved into Mexican and Mexican American identities and the iconic clashes between Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez. Recently, he brought his expertise on boxing to Vice TV’s “Dark Side of the 90s” docuseries, where he was interviewed for the episode on Mike Tyson.
Education (4)
University of California, Los Angeles: Ph.D., Chicana/o and Central American Studies 2021
University of California, Santa Barbara: M.A., Chicana and Chicano Studies 2016
Higher Education Student Affairs: M.Ed., Iowa State University 2010
University of California, Irvine: B.A.,, Chicano/Latino Studies 2007
Areas of Expertise (7)
Political Economy
Sport and Society
Chicana and Chicano Studies
Sport and Labor
Ethnography
Boxing
Photography
Accomplishments (7)
SoCal Journalism Award Finalist (Sports Commentary) – “Boxers Know the Power of an Entrance”
2024
UCLA Chancellor's Award for Postdoctoral Research
2023
UCLA Latino Applied Policy Research Award
2022
UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of California, Los Angeles
2022
Pitzer College Research and Teaching Funding Award
2021
International Conference on Sport and Society Emerging Scholar Award
2020
American Studies Association Sport Studies Caucus Graduate Student Paper Award
2019
Links (1)
Media Appearances (6)
‘Los boxeadores ganan menos que el salario mínimo’: Abel Sánchez y pugilistas locales reaccionan a estudio
Los Angeles Times en Español online
2024-08-12
“California es el estado que más regula peleas de boxeo en la nación, entonces sería el mejor ejemplo para crear un modelo y modificar la manera de cómo se le compensa a los boxeadores por sus peleas”, dijo el doctorado en Estudios Chicanos(as) y de Centro América en UCLA, Rudy Mondragón.
Life at the Bottom: Most Boxers Earn Less than Minimum Wage
Boxing Scene online
2024-05-16
Mondragón stresses that his motivation for the study was that he is a boxing fan himself who wants to improve the sport. “But I also want to critique the industry and the boxing business, because I feel like we’re lagging behind in terms of better protecting such an important labor force, because they’re not just entertainers,” he says.
La Guerra Civil
DAZN tv
Documentary about the epic rivalry between iconic boxers Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez in the 1990s sparked a cultural divide between Mexican nationals and Mexican-Americans.
In The Company of Kings
Virgil Films tv
In the Company of Kings follows a fight fan’s unforgettable journey into the dark heart of American boxing to talk to eight former World Champs and those closest to his hero, Muhammad Ali, about race, struggle, victory, defeat and picking yourself up off the canvas. Features Larry Holmes, Bernard Hopkins, Tim Witherspoon, Earnie Shavers, the Spinks brothers, Bob Arum and more.
Teófimo López win excites Honduran Americans amid pain
Associated Press online
2020-10-21
Rudy Mondragón, a UCLA Chicana and Chicano Studies doctoral candidate who is studying boxing, said the sport has long served as a gateway for immigrants and marginalized communities in the U.S.
Historic Andy Ruiz Win Jolts Elation Among Mexican Americans
Associated Press online
2019-06-05
Yes, Mexican Americans like Oscar De La Hoya have captured boxing titles previously. But those wins came in lower weight divisions — no Mexican boxer weighing more than 168 pounds (76 kilograms) had ever won a championship before Ruiz, said Rudy Mondragón, a UCLA Chicana and Chicano Studies doctoral candidate who is studying boxing.
Research Grants (1)
UCLA Latino Applied Policy Research Award
UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute $25,000
Funding from this grant supported a policy brief that examines the precarious labor position that professional boxers occupy in California, the state that hosts the most boxing events in the country.
Articles (3)
Down But Not Out: Labor Struggles for Professional Boxers in California’s Ring
UCLA Latino Policy & Politics InstituteRudy Mondragón, Abel Valenzuela Jr., & José M. Hernández
2024
Boxing Ring Entrances as Insubordinate Spaces: A Disruptive Oral Herstory
Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies2023
Serving Undocumented Students: Current Law and Policy
New Directions in Student Services: Undocumented Students in Higher EducationRyan E. Gildersleeve, Corey Rumann, & Rudy Mondragón
2010
