Rudy Mondragón

Assistant Professor of Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies Loyola Marymount University

  • Los Angeles CA

Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts

Contact

Loyola Marymount University

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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

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

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Areas of Expertise

Political Economy
Sport and Society
Chicana and Chicano Studies
Sport and Labor
Ethnography
Boxing
Photography

Accomplishments

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

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Media Appearances

‘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.

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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.

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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.

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Research Grants

UCLA Latino Applied Policy Research Award

UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute

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.

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Articles

Down But Not Out: Labor Struggles for Professional Boxers in California’s Ring

UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute

Rudy Mondragón, Abel Valenzuela Jr., & José M. Hernández

2024

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Boxing Ring Entrances as Insubordinate Spaces: A Disruptive Oral Herstory

Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies

2023

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Serving Undocumented Students: Current Law and Policy

New Directions in Student Services: Undocumented Students in Higher Education

Ryan E. Gildersleeve, Corey Rumann, & Rudy Mondragón

2010

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