GRAPEVINE, TEXAS -- From Julio César Chávez to Oscar De La Hoya, from De La Hoya to Erik Morales, from Morales to Marco Barrera, from Barrera to Juan Manuel Márquez and from Márquez to Canelo Alvarez, Mexican and Mexican-American boxing has had its own way of celebrating the sport and Mexico's Independence Day (Sept. 16) for more than 32 years. Saturday's fight between Alvarez and Liam Smith is the latest of these bouts.

Celebrating Mexican Independence Day by attending a boxing match has become an authentic tradition. Thousands of Mexicans cross the border to celebrate away from home, while other Mexicans living on American soil take advantage of the occasion to renew their love for their nation and celebrate their love for a favorite sport as well.

The legend, Chávez, was the one to make those days important, possibly as a coincidence initially. Since 1992, it has been by design. September is now always special for Mexican boxing, even though positive results have not always been achieved.

Chávez played a leading role in September 1984 vs. Mario Martinez, in 1985 vs. Dwight Pratchett, in 1991 vs. Lonnie Smith, in 1992 vs. Hector ‘"Macho" Camacho, in 1993 vs. Pernell Whitaker, in 1994 vs. Meldrick Taylor, 1995 vs. David Kamau, 1998 vs. Oscar De La Hoya and 2005 vs. Grover Wiley. In those bouts, he had a draw with Whitaker and was defeated by De La Hoya and Wiley; the rest were wins, mainly in Las Vegas.

In those fights, particularly against "Macho" Camacho and ‘"Golden Boy" De La Hoya, thousands of fans were transfixed. Las Vegas looked like a part of Mexico, and it was then that everyone realized the importance of these dates for the Mexican fans, not only for the amazing spectacular attendance but also for the impressive number of pay-per-views for each event.

De La Hoya, with his 1998 win over Chávez, inherited the right to continue starring on those special fall dates, although he had been also active before. He fought in September 1995 vs. Genaro Hernández, in 1997 vs. Camacho; in 1998 vs. Chávez, 1999 vs. Félix Trinidad, in 2002 vs. Fernando Vargas, in 2003 vs. Shane Mosley and 2004 vs. Bernard Hopkins. "The ‘Golden Boy" was defeated by Trinidad, Mosley and Hopkins.

It was with De La Hoya that the trend increased, particularly because of the enthusiasm that these dates caught about in those Mexicans living in the United States. Although Chávez had millions of followers, De La Hoya captivated a new audience of second- and third-generation Mexicans living across the border.

Erik Morales was another Mexican with fights held in September after Chávez, and in September 1997, he won his belt against Daniel Zaragoza. Then, he starred in 1998 vs. Junior Jones, in 2005 vs. Zahir Raheem, in 2010 vs. Willie Limond and 2011 vs. Pablo César Cano. He won all of them except against Raheem.

With De La Hoya practically out of the game, but with stars like Barrera and Juan Manuel Márquez signed to the Golden Boy Promotions business, the years 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009 were theirs. Barrera defeated Robbie Peden and Rocky Juárez in the first two years, and Márquez defeated Joel Casamayor first and fell against Floyd Mayweather in the last one.

Recently, and personally aware of the benefits that scheduling great bouts on September potentially brings, De La Hoya, through his promoting work, has presented Alvarez as a great attraction and has given him five Mexican Independence Day fights, including the one on Saturday. Alvarez has, in September fights, a balance of three wins and one loss up to now.

In 2010, he knocked-out Carlos Baldomir in six rounds in Los Angeles; in 2011, he also defeated Alfonso Gómez in six rounds. In 2012 he knocked-out Josesito Lopez in the fifth round, while on that same day, Julio Cesar Chávez Jr. lost his unbeaten record against Sergio ‘"Maravilla" Martinez.

In 2013, Alvarez was defeated by the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Floyd Mayweather, ending his winning streak. He expects to start a new one Saturday against Smith at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. It promises to be a special occasion for the Mexican and Mexican-American fans who have found, for more than 30 years now, that boxing is a good pretext to celebrate their Mexican heritage.

Salvador Rodriguez covers boxing for ESPNDeportes.com and ESPN.com.mx. Read the original Spanish-language version of this story here.