Governor of Colombia’s Caquetá Defeats Capital’s Mayor In Boxing Match

Boxing Match Highlights Rare Unity in Long-Conflicted Caquetá

The governor of Colombia’s Caquetá department and the mayor of its capital, Florencia, put on gloves and headgear and boxed two rounds in front of a live crowd on September 12, 2026, in a charity exhibition organized to relaunch the region’s amateur boxing league. Governor Luis Francisco Ruiz Aguilar defeated Mayor Marlon Monsalve Ascanio when Monsalve could not continue one minute and 15 seconds into the second round.

The bout, billed as Guerra en la Selva (“War in the Jungle”), was held at the JR nightclub in Florencia and included six other amateur matches on the same card. Ruiz Aguilar, who took office in January 2024 as governor of Caquetá, wore yellow; Monsalve, mayor of the Florencia municipal government since the same date, wore burgundy. Neither official had trained as a boxer before the match, and both said afterward that the fight reflected cooperation between their administrations rather than any political rivalry.

The event doubled as a tribute to Genaro Granja Banguera, an 80-year-old boxing instructor known locally as “Chico Furia” who has trained fighters in Caquetá for more than six decades and is currently being treated for prostate cancer. Monsalve presented Granja with the city’s Medalla al Mérito Ciudad Florencia (Florencia City Medal of Merit) during the event, along with a pledge of home repairs and food assistance, according to Lente Regional.

Ruiz Aguilar posted a statement after the fight describing it as evidence of a working relationship between the departmental and municipal governments.

“More than a fight, this was a demonstration of the unity, brotherhood and teamwork that today binds our administrations together. We will keep working hand in hand for the well-being of everyone in Caquetá and Florencia.”

— Luis Francisco Ruiz Aguilar, governor of Caquetá

Monsalve, a lawyer and former university administrator whose 2023 election victory came without the backing of Caquetá’s traditional political machines, took the loss in stride. “The governor beat me, and he gave me the privilege of facing him. I think that next time, if I train, I can win,” he said, according to Semana.

Ruiz Aguilar, a physician and former mayor of Cartagena del Chairá, said he next intends to face Luis Trujillo Osorio, mayor of the neighboring municipality of San Vicente del Caguán, in a future exhibition bout, according to NTN24, though neither office has confirmed a date.

The card was organized by Wendy Paola Gutiérrez Cuesta of Agencia WG with backing from both governments, according to Infobae, which also collected reactions on Colombian social media that were largely critical of the spectacle, including one reader who called it “a bad example” and another who compared it unfavorably to how disputes get settled in Colombia’s Congress. Other commenters defended the officials, framing the bout as harmless local promotion, according to NTN24.

Caquetá, a department bordering Colombia’s Amazon region, was for decades one of the areas most affected by the armed conflict involving the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Its economy still depends heavily on cattle ranching, agriculture and public spending centered in Florencia, the departmental capital.