De Soto’s El Paso Boxing Hall of Fame Mural is Being Removed

Thursday morning, October 18, 2023, I & probably many many people in El Paso were shocked to see Jesse De Mendoza Pano's beautiful boxing mural on the side of the De Soto Hotel in Downtown El Paso being demolished. And sadly there was video too of the tearing down process.

It's a very sad sight to see... judging by the comments on the video, there’s a lot of people who are upset and bummed out by the decision made to removed the mural..

I’m also sad but I understand WHY they're doing it; after the horrible fire the De Soto Hotel suffered in 2022, the building was damaged severely so that's why they have to bring it down. But that doesn't mean we have to forget the names on that iconic piece of El Paso history.

What are the names on El Paso's boxing mural?

Since 2014, the mural was included in the Library of Congress; on it are some of the most iconic names in the world of boxing. Over 20 different names were found on the De Soto Hotel, all of which were inducted into the Hall of Fame:

• Dr. Raul Rivera,
• Jerry Wright,
• Rocky Galarza,
• Dolph Quitano,
• Gonzalo "Silm" Delgado,
• Tacho Mendoza,
• Ruben Florez,
• Dr. Ray Gardea,
• Manny Ortega,
• Alex Guerrero,
• Jr. Vicencio,
• Fernie Morales,
• Pete Camacho,
• Mike Andrade,
• Jesse Fonseca,
• Chito Barragan,
• Ray Perez,
• Jake Martinez,
• Manny Villalobos,
• Certio "Marty" Martinez"
• Al Cardenas,
• Oscar De la Hoya (sporting the gold gloves)
• & Juan Lazcano

Thanks to a YouTuber user, Slakingfool, we can see what the mural looked like in 2009; you can see that the side of the De Soto looked MUCH more vibrant & all the names are much clearer to read.

As someone who's lived in El Paso for most of his life, this was truly one of the best murals you can find in Downtown El Paso. It's so sad seeing a piece of El Paso history being removed so for that; a huge thank you to Jesus "Pano" Mendoza for your hard work on this iconic mural. It will always be appreciated.

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