In June, the president of Puerto Rico's Senate spent $36,000 to have a bronze sculpture of a crowing rooster installed on the lawn of the capitol building. And for months, Gerardo Mora ...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — As his defeated rooster is carried from the arena and the shouts of triumph and frustration die down, Samuel Rodriguez peels $6,000 from a wad of bills and pays off his bets.

The mascots of the University of Puerto Rico’s main campus are a rooster and a hen. This summer, state lawmakers unveiled a monument to “the gentlemen’s sport” behind the Puerto Rican Capitol.