One aspect of the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford matchup that hasn’t been talked about as much as it should be is the rich tradition of American boxers matching wits, skills and heart with Mexican fighters.

The lineage of this particular boxing culture clash dates to the 1930s, and you better believe that when the best of Mexico took on the best of the U.S., history was made.

History will be made Saturday, and now that we’re a few days away from the super middleweight showdown, I’ll be watching as many USA vs. Mexico matchups as I can find on YouTube to get properly hyped. I’ll also be reading up on the old-time fights that aren’t on YouTube and reminiscing about the modern bouts that aren’t online for whatever reason with my buddies.

I invite you to do the same. To help get you started, I’m listing 10 significant or memorable “border” rivalries and fights in chronological order. These are just my choices, not The Ring’s official selections or an all-time ranking. I know there will be several worthy showdowns left out (it can’t be helped with such lists). If I didn't list your favorite(s), please let me know — and why it deserved mention — by sending an email to comeoutwriting@gmail.com.

Henry Armstrong vs. Baby Arizmendi — Some credit Arizmendi as the first world champion from Mexico but the versions of the featherweight title he won were only recognized in California, New York and Mexico. Arizmendi was the prototypical Mexican brawler but in Armstrong he faced an American with a swarming Mexican style. They fought five times in Mexico City and Los Angeles from 1934-39 with Amstrong leading the series 3-2. Parts of bouts Nos. 4 and 5 (which was a world welterweight championship) are on YouTube.

Juan Zurita UD 15 Sammy Angott — Most historians credit Zurita, a Guadalajara native who was hugely popular in Los Angeles, as the first Mexican world champ. Zurita won the NBA lightweight title with a 15-round decision over Angott on March 8, 1944, in L.A. It was the final title bout of Angott’s criminally underrated career. Sadly, this fight isn’t on YouTube.

Ike Williams TKO 2 Juan Zurita – A prime Williams, my choice for the best lightweight of the 1940s, sparked Zurita on April 14, 1945, in Mexico City. It was the second to last bout of Zurita’s amazing career (bout No. 153!). This one isn’t on YouTube, either, but do yourself a favor and read up on Zurita, who fought everyone and retired with a 130-23-1 (48) mark. If you’re not familiar with Ike, visit his Boxrec page. He’s an all-time great.

Ike Williams vs. Enrique Bolanos — Bolanos was every bit as popular as Zurita was in L.A., maybe more so, and the Durango native probably would have been lightweight champ if not for Williams. They fought three times from 1946-49, all at Wrigley Field in L.A., where Bolanos was the crowd favorite, but Williams prevailed each time, winning by eighth-round stoppage, 15-round split decision and fourth-round TKO. They were fast-paced bouts between fierce boxer-punchers. Ike was just a little meaner. Pieces of the 15-round rematch are on YouTube.

Ruben Olivares vs. Bobby Chacon — This trilogy matched one of the biggest Mexican attractions of the 1970s against one of the most popular Mexican-American sluggers of the decade. All three bouts, contested between 1973-77, packed The Forum in Inglewood, California. In their first meeting, Olivares, a veteran of 75 bouts (71-3-1), took the unbeaten but green Chacon (19-0) into deep water, downing The Schoolboy in nine rounds. He blitzed a weight-drained Chacon in their 1975 rematch (TKO 2), winning the WBC featherweight strap. Chacon won the third bout by 10-round decision.

Lupe Pintor vs. Alberto Davila — The Texas-born L.A.-raised contender was too nimble and accurate for the heavy-hooking Mexican prospect when they first met at The Forum in 1976. Pintor dropped a 10-round decision in his 13th pro bout. Thirty-five bouts later, Pintor had evolved into a formidable WBC bantamweight titleholder, but Davila remained a sweet-boxing top contender. Sportswriter-turned-publicist John Beyrooty told me their rematch, on December 19, 1980 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, was “the best example of the Mexican style vs. the American style over 15 rounds.” The plodding but patient champion won a razor-thin majority decision. Davila was brilliant in the loss. Check it out and let me know who you think deserved the decision.

Salvador Sanchez vs. Danny Lopez — The poise, accuracy and ring savvy the 21-year-old Mexico City native exhibited against the veteran KO artist was uncanny. Their two bouts were extended beatings for “Little Red,” who had made eight defenses of the WBC featherweight title going into the back-to-back losses (TKO 13, TKO 14) to Sanchez in 1980.

Thomas Hearns TKO 2 Pipino Cuevas — The two biggest welterweight punchers of the 1970s clashed on August 2, 1980, in Detroit. It was Cuevas’ vaunted left hook vs. Hearns’ feared right hand. The American’s right hand got there first and the legend of The Hitman was born.

Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Roger Mayweather — Chavez carried a 46-0 record into his first bout with Mayweather on July 7, 1985, but the “Black Mamba” was the known quantity in the CBS-televised matchup (first U.S. network appearance for “The Lion of Culiacan”). Mayweather was a hot-and-cold performer but when he was on he was world class. Chavez’s second-round stoppage, the second defense of his WBC 130-pound title, served notice to the American public that he was the real deal. Their second bout, at junior welterweight in 1989, was a hotly contested battle of attrition but Mayweather had had enough of the Mexican idol, arguably the best fighter pound-for-pound at the time, after 10 rounds.

Daniel Zaragoza vs. Paul Banke — It says here that this three-bout series, contested for the WBC 122-pound title between 1989-91, is the most underrated trilogy of the last 50 years. Don’t take my word for it. Watch all three bouts on YouTube. Zaragoza, a gritty, consummate professional and future Hall of Famer from Mexico City, took the first bout (SD 12) and the rubber match (UD 12) via close decisions. Banke’s passionate rematch victory by ninth-round stoppage was right out of a movie.

Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor — This showdown of unbeaten 140-pound titleholders was as hard fought and dramatic as boxing gets. It was also heartbreaking for Taylor fans (especially the ones who put money on him like Yours Truly) who witnessed the teenage darling of the 1984 U.S. Olympic squad controversially stopped with two seconds left in the epic clash — The Ring’s 1990 Fight of the Year. Chavez, whose record improved to 69-0 with 57 KOs with the epic victory, became a living legend. Taylor rebounded to win a welterweight title in 1991 but Chavez stopped him in eight spirited rounds in their 1994 rematch.

Buddy McGirt UD 12 Genaro Leon — Buddy almost “fumbled the bag,” as the kids say. Two months out from a showdown with Pernell Whitaker, the WBC welterweight champ was almost stopped in the final round by grizzled Mexican Olympian Genaro Leon in an ESPN main event. McGirt survived and won a close UD on January 12, 1993. I can’t believe this isn’t on YouTube. Somebody upload it — at least the 12th round — please!

Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzalez — The first bout of their trilogy is one of my all-time favorite shootouts. Carabajal got up from two hard knockdowns to ice “Chiquita” in the seventh round of their 108-pound title unification bout, The Ring’s 1993 Fight of the Year. Gonzalez wisely boxed the 1988 Olympic silver medalist to majority and split decision victories in their 1994 return bouts.

Pernell Whitaker Split Draw 12 Chavez — All credit to the late, great Sweet Pea. The boxing world was split on who was pound-for-pound No. 1 so he "crossed the street" (from HBO to Showtime) and fought on hostile enemy territory (a Don King promotion in San Antonio, Texas, with hand-picked WBC officials) to prove who’s best. Yes, the judges [guess what expletive goes here] him, but the world saw the truth.

Marco Antonio TKO 12 Kennedy McKinney — This instant classic kicked off HBO’s "Boxing After Dark" series in style on February 3, 1996. This was Barrera at his pressure-fighting peak, as spiteful as he was skilled. But the 1988 Olympic gold medalist had the heart and technique to make it a battle worthy of The Forum.

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Julio Cesar Chavez — Chavez, a veteran of 98 pro bouts (96-1-1), was clearly past his prime when he passed the superstar torch and the WBC 140-pound title to De La Hoya in 1996, but it was still a peak performance from The Golden Boy, who was seemingly untouchable that sweltering evening in Las Vegas. Chavez, as proud as Mexican fighters come, was better in their welterweight rematch two years later but could only muster eight rounds of resistance vs. a prime De La Hoya.

Junior Jones vs. Marco Antonio Barrera — Barrera carried a 43-0 record with 31 KOs and the delusion of invincibility into the first bout with Jones on November 22, 1996, but the veteran New Yorker’s height, reach, technique and vaunted right hand was "poison" (see what I did there?) to the burgeoning Mexican star. What should have been a fifth-round KO became a DQ when Barrera’s corner rushed the ring to save him. The rematch five months later, narrowly won by Jones via UD, gave us a glimpse of the savvy boxer Barrera would later evolve into.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Jose Luis Castillo — If Floyd ever lost a pro fight, it was the first of his two WBC lightweight title bouts with Castillo in 2002. For the record, I had Mayweather just nicking it by a point from my press row seat inside MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Watching the replay on HBO, I went with Harold Lederman’s unofficial scorecard (115-111). I thought they neutralized each other in the tepid rematch, which The Pretty Boy took by close decision.

Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo — Their epic clash on May 7, 2005 is the greatest fight I ever witnessed. The rematch, marred by Castillo’s weigh-in controversy, was fun while it lasted.

Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz — I thought Marquez was on his way to a stoppage loss just a few rounds into his first bout with Diaz on February 28, 2009, such was the torrid pace set by The Baby Bull. But Marquez proved his greatness in dissecting and breaking the Houston native down to a dramatic ninth-round TKO. It was The Ring’s Fight of the Year. Marquez easily won their 2010 rematch by 12-round UD.

Just for the spirit of this great cultural rivalry, here are 20 honorable mentions (in chronological order). Give ’em a watch if you’ve never seen any of these before:

Guty Espadas Sr. split draw 10 Willie Jensen (1976)

Pipino Cuevas UD 15 Randy Shields (1979)

Pernell Whitaker vs. Jose Luis Ramirez (two bouts, 1988-89)

Jorge Paez vs. Calvin Grove (two bouts, 1988-89)

Paez vs. Troy Dorsey (two bouts, 1990)

Paez MD 10 Tracy Spann (1991)

Whitaker UD 12 Paez (1991)

Genaro Hernandez vs. Raul Perez (two bouts, 1993)

Mark Johnson SD 12 Alberto Jimenez (1993)

Kevin Kelley UD 12 Gregorio Vargas (1993)

Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Frankie Randall (three bouts, 1994, 2004)

Alejandro Gonzalez TKO 10 Kelley (1995)

Oscar De La Hoya UD 12 Miguel Angel Gonzalez (1997)

Erik Morales TKO 4 Junior Jones (1998)

James Page UD 12 Jose Luis Lopez (1998)

Jose Luis Castillo vs. Stevie Johnston (two bouts, 2000)

Johnson vs. Rafael Marquez (two bouts, 2001-02)

Floyd Mayweather Jr. TKO 9 Jesus Chavez (2001)

Johnson MD 12 Fernando Montiel (2003)

Marquez TKO 8 Tim Austin (2003)

Zahir Raheem UD 12 Morales (2005)

David Diaz MD 12 Morales (2007)

Shane Mosley TKO 9 Antonio Margarito (2009)

Canelo Alvarez UD 12 Austin Trout (2013)

Mayweather MD 12 Alvarez (2013)

Terence Crawford UD 12 Raymundo Beltran (2014)

Alvarez UD 12 Daniel Jacobs (2019)

Alvarez TKO 11 Caleb Plant (2021)

Gervonta Davis UD 12 Isaac Cruz (2021)

I'm sure there are more than a dozen other worthy USA vs. Mexico matchups that I left out. Let us know your choices in the comment section.

Just a few months ago, Shakur Stevenson and William Zepeda gave us a lightweight title bout to remember, which was followed by a thrilling 12-round junior welterweight clash between Oscar Duarte and Kenneth Sims.

The chemistry is clearly still there when these storied boxing styles clash at the highest level.

Saturday can’t arrive soon enough.