Dennis Borba

Like David Renk, Harper Lee. Tracy Viser, Sidney Franklin, John Fulton and others, Dennis Borba is an American matador de toros who took the alternativa several seasons ago in Mazatlan at the hands of Manolo Arruza and Chicuelin. Though he appeared in Peru, Portugal, Mexico and Costa Rica as well, much of his career was spent appealing in bloodless bullfights in California. In recent years he has devote more time to the raising of bulls and running a bullfighting school in Escalon, California, than in fighting himself.

Like other American matadores over the decades, such as Diego O' Bolger, Robert Ryan, Harper Lee and Tracy Viser, Borba always did excel with the banderillas.  This was always a strong point for him.

Though  many of his appearances were in bloodless bullfights in California, he did hold his own against stiff competition, including the temperamental Manolo Moreno and the rejoneador, Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza.

The alternativa was sadly not confirmed in Mexico City or Madrid ever, where frankly, it should have been. Politically, being an American had some disadvantages.

One of the miraculous oddities about Borba is the fact that even though he was fighting bulls since the early 1980s, he never received a major goring.

Being  regional hero in California has had its advantages. There has been a pasodoble  written in his honor and he has been the topic of much media coverage.

His brother, Clarence, was an accomplished forcado and his uncle was a band director for a bullfighting band.