Panama Sports - Panama is like any other country in the region: They love their sports. One very popular sport here is boxing. Along with boxing there is baseball, basketball, and soccer. Panama has produced some sporting legends too.

Rod Carew played for the Minnesota Twins for many years and was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame is somewhat of a legend in this country. In fact, he has also served as a dignitary such as the inauguration of President Martin Torrijos in 2004. He was on the delegation with Secretary of State Colin Powell who attended the inauguration.

Roberto Durán is the famous boxer who won 32 matches in his career is another sporting legend who comes from Panama. Panama holds its share of boxing matches as well. People do not often think of Panama as a country where boxing is popular but there has been a lot of influence from the United States for decades here and especially from the City of New York where boxing has been traditionally very popular.

Basketball is another very popular sport here. In fact, basketball in general is becoming very popular in Latin America as the sport becomes more globalized.

One can clearly see that decades of American influence here has defined the Panamanians' interest in sports. While the other Latin American neighbors love their soccer, Panama loves their baseball , boxing, and basketball.

Surprisingly though, American football has only started to gain popularity here in Panama sports. Panama is fielding teams that play on the football field of the old Balboa High School where American Canal Zone teenagers once attended but have long since gone. This could be the reason why American football is just now starting to gain popularity. It was probably because they did not really understand the game until the Americans left. Today, American collegiate teams fly down to Panama to compete with the new football players. Remember, when conversing about football in Panama, make sure you say American Football as in every country throughout the world besides the United States, football actually is the default name for soccer.