Strangers trade punches and chase thrills at Colombia’s pop-up fights

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — In a park on the outskirts of Colombia’s capital, Santiago Abril set up a mat made with interlocking rubber panels and assembled an octagonal structure resembling a mixed martial arts cage.

The portable ring, made of rubber and plastic, serves as the stage for the improvised boxing matches that Abril has organized for months at parks in Bogota, mostly without official permits.

Dozens of young men and women gather on weekends for Abril’s pop-up fights, where strangers face off without the lengthy preparations required for regular boxing matches. Some want to test their boxing skills. Others are looking for a new thrill.

Women pay around $5 to compete, while men pay $15. Organizers provide boxing gloves but no headgear. Cash prizes of around $100 are given to those who can win two or three fights in a row in hastily organized tournaments.

For Ingrid Prieto, a 29-year-old who recently participated in a fight, boxing is a form of therapy.

“When I was young, I used to get in a lot of fights, so I began to practice taekwondo,” she said, adding that contact sports have helped her to channel her emotions.

Eliber Parra García, 27, repairs mobile phones for a living. He said he joined the pop-up fights to experience what it feels like to be a professional boxer, and also for the adrenaline that comes with fighting and the chance to make some money. “I have an orange belt in judo,” Parra García said. “But I know very little about boxing.”

Bogota’s municipal government told the Associated Press that the fights require permits and a plan for dealing with emergencies that must be submitted to authorities.

Police have asked Abril to dismantle his octagon in several parks around the city, after failing to present a permit.

Abril said participants are asked to sign a consent form stating they are in good health before fighting. He also said obtaining a permit to organize boxing matches is difficult because the sport is “monopolized” by promoters.

Abril’s fights are limited to two rounds lasting 90 seconds each. Participants are sorted into weight categories and given gloves that are heavier than those used by professionals.

“The gloves are so heavy that the boxers get tired faster, and that means they will not throw such hard punches,” said Abril, who has a degree in physical education. He said that sometimes there are bloody noses or burst lips in his fights, but that “no one has had their cheekbones broken.”

Despite the lack of permits, and being chased from parks by police, Abril says interest in his street fights is growing. He promotes them on social media under the nickname King Abril and runs a YouTube account with 131,000 subscribers.

“We started doing this on streets, on the pavement,” Abril said. “Now we have a cage, gloves and a mat.”

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Amateur boxers compete in a street fight flash tournament in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Amateur boxers Diego Salinas, left, and Kevin Grande compete in the street fight flash tournament in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Amateur boxers compete in a street fight flash boxing tournament in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Amateur boxer Kimberly Martinez, right, exchanges punches with Leidy Castiblanco during a street fight flash tournament in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Amateur boxers Alejandro Seron, front, and Sebastian Gomez compete in a street fight flash boxing tournament in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio won the race Tuesday to serve as House Republican leader as the GOP prepares for its new role in the minority.

Jordan, who serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, defeated Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana in a secret ballot election of Republicans who will serve in the next Congress. The vote was 106-73.

Jordan, 62, is a co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and served as its first chairman. His candidacy appealed to those looking for new leadership in the wake of last week’s election debacle and to those who like his hard-hitting political style.

Jordan as minority leader will inherit a historically small House Republican conference that is only beginning to grapple with its loss of power as President Donald Trump serves out his final two years in office. Leading the party back to the House majority in 2028 is sure to be a stiff climb, given the scope of Democratic victories in the midterms.

Jordan warned of the coming Democratic efforts on oversight, with numerous investigations of the Trump administration expected.

“Our job cannot be merely to spotlight how radical this new Democratic Party is — offense, not defense, wins elections,” Jordan said, a nod to his pugnacious reputation in committee hearings.

Trump said he was staying out of the race.

Scalise and Jordan had faced off before, both running to serve as House speaker after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the job a little more than three years ago. Neither was able to rally the support necessary to secure the position, which eventually went to Mike Johnson, who is stepping aside from the leadership in the new Congress.

Scalise, 61, has held key GOP leadership positions going back to 2014, serving as party whip and then as majority leader. In 2017, he was critically wounded when a gunman opened fire at a baseball practice where several Republican lawmakers and staffers were preparing for an annual charity baseball game against Democrats. In 2023, he was stricken with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that was successfully treated.

“Overcoming adversity is nothing new to me,” Scalise said in his pitch to colleagues.

He also emphasized his fundraising prowess, noting he raised $67.9 million for this year's midterms, with about a third of that going directly to individual House campaigns and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

But the majority of Republicans opted for Jordan, who emphasized his experience battling with Democrats in committee rooms.

“I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats’ playbook,” Jordan said.

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota was elected as the Republican whip, the No. 2 position in the leadership hierarchy. He beat out Rep. August Pfluger of Texas for the job.

Three candidates were seeking to serve as conference chair: Reps. Lisa McClain of Michigan, Erin Houchin of Indiana and Greg Steube of Florida.

Democrats will hold their leadership elections next week.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is expected to become the next House speaker, the first African-American to hold the job, and Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts is expected to become the next majority leader. She would be the first woman to hold that position.

Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

FILE - Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks as FBI Director Kash Patel appears before the House Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein File)

FILE - House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., speaks at the Republican convention, Sept. 9, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon File)