Poor money management can lead even the wealthiest people to bankruptcy.
The story of this Mexican boxer is more common than you think. One tends to think that professional and internationally recognized athletes are financially saved forever. In this particular case we are talking about “Guapo” Víctor Manuel Rabanales, who sold all his prizes to make an unusual purchase that cost him too much.
The story of Víctor Rabanales’ financial debacle began with a scam that caused him to lose large sums of money. The purchase of a portion of Popocatépetl for $30,000 with the intention of building a gym and a rabbit farm turned into a fiasco.
Victor Rabanales
The brief glory of Víctor Rabanales in world boxing
Rabanales was born in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas, on December 23, 1962. At just seven years old, he put on the gloves for the first time that he would only abandon at 41, when he had already amassed a good bag of money. The native of Chiapas, and known as “El Rústico” achieved his greatest success in 1992, when he was crowned world bantamweight champion of the World Boxing Council (WBC) after defeating the Japanese Joichiro Tatsuyoshi.
Rabanales went on to accumulate million-dollar earnings during his career. However, he was only able to successfully defend his title once, before losing it in 1993 against Korean Jung II Byun. He finally retired at age 41 with a record of 49 wins and 21 losses.
The Popocatépetl scam: how Víctor Rabanales lost his fortune
The former professional athlete had an ostentatious plan. Buy a piece of land at the foot of one of the most important volcano in Mexico, Pococatépetl, and set up a gym and a rabbit farm there. In order to reach the sum they were asking for, he had to sell his prizes and then he was summoned to the base to close the deal that ended up being a scam.
The magnitude of the fraud became more evident with the loss of two apartments and a house in Texcoco, properties that he never registered in his own name. Additionally, Rabanales had to sell his WBC belt for just 5,000 pesos, a fraction of its real value of $15,000, due to his precarious financial situation.
In this way, he ended his working life as a flannel carrier and fruit loader in the Texcoco market.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
