Chevy, el Ponzoñú
Chevy, el Ponzoñú is a fictional Puerto Rican television character, played by Puerto Rican comedian Melwin Cedeño. It debuted on Puerto Rican TV in 1990.
Chevy is a native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, as his name suggests. His most infamous moment came during the Julio César Chávez-Hector Camacho world championship boxing fight in Las Vegas, September 15, 1992. Camacho, a personal friend of Cedeño, asked him to perform Puerto Rico's national anthem, La Borinqueña, as Chevy, el Ponzoñú, on Pay Per View and in front of a national audience in many world countries where the fight was telecast.
What followed next was wide controversy in Puerto Rico. Many people did not agree with the designation of Cedeño as Chevy el Ponzoñú to sing Puerto Rico's anthem, signaling other singers as their choice to do that task.
Cedeño defended his representation as Chevy in Las Vegas and his performance by saying, on Vea Magazine and other publications, that he sang from his heart, and he even suggested that Chávez's guest, Vicente Fernandez, could not memorize the Mexican national anthem and had to read it from a small piece of paper.
Chevy el Ponzoñú was a popular character in Puerto Rican television.