When Jesus Pimentel stepped from the ring in San Antonio last week after fighting for what was billed as the North American Bantamweight championship, the city's Mexican-American majority had two reasons to be pleased. Not only had the Mexican contender won, but the fight also netted $1,000 for an unlikely beneficiary: Holy Cross High School, a parochial school that serves San Antonio's poorest Chicano neighborhood (median family income: $3,280).
Why is a high school connected with a prizefight? The answer goes back to 1968, when San Antonio's parochial schools were in deep financial...