Yuma man goes for third straight tamale eating championship
One of the area's top eaters is ready to reclaim his title - 13 On Your Side's Luis Lopez reports
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - For most people one or two tamales is more than enough to eat. However, for Francisco Osuna, that's light work. The two-time reigning champ is going for his third consecutive tamale eating championship, as he gets ready to compete at Saturday’s Tamale Festival in Somerton.
Osuna has been training for two months to get ready for the competition. He goes through several practice sessions to get ready. He puts six tamales on a plate, eating them as fast as he can. The preparation is vital for Osuna, as he says getting his body ready is key to winning.
“It’s a lot of masa, so you’ve got to make sure you’re ready for that, you can’t just show up and start chowing, it’ll mess you up,” Osuna said.
During the actual contest, competitors have to eat 12 beef tamales. The first eater to finish all 12 wins. In 2018, Osuna finished his tamales in two minutes and 11 seconds. This year he’d like to break that record, just as long as he can push past the feeling of fullness during the contest.
"It’s just all mental, you just got to avoid it you know, it’s just kind of like sometimes you feel like you want to throw up too, and you've just got to swallow it basically,” Osuna said.
Osuna also says that once the contest is over, he won’t be eating any more tamales for the rest of the year, even on Christmas. If you’d like to see him go for the three-peat, the contest starts Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on the festival’s "El Diablito" stage on Main Street in Somerton.
