By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán & WBC President

A great personality of Mexican sports died this past Wednesday. Antonio Murrieta was a brilliant supporter of sports throughout his life. Dear friend of my father José Sulaimán and many more.

His memory will be eternal, and we wish his family a life full of pride, because Toño Murrieta most certainly left his mark on his era and on this Earth.

The Holy Father Francisco celebrated his 86th birthday this past Saturday. It is amazing to see his energy and passion to serve, which keeps him as active as when he took on this role as a world leader.

He is the Pope of Sports, who has created world programs through his Scholas Ocurrentes foundation, in order to educate and teach values through sports, art and technology.

Box Val was born in 2016, and today it has a tremendous presence throughout the world, since The WBC was distinguished with the designation of managing said program, which is a fundamental part of our WBC and WBC Cares. Thank you, Holy Father, for including boxing and many other sports in your plans to build bridges of peace and inclusion.

On Sunday the final game of the Qatar 2022 World Cup was played. This mega event that is celebrated every four years finally had its championship game and what drama! A fantastic match! Congratulations, Argentina! Congratulations Lionel Messi! …. Argentina defeated France in the most dramatic fashion, leading 2-0 with only ten minutes left in the game, France came to tie and send the game into overtime, Messi scored and when it seemed it was over where comes France and takes the game into penalty kicks as Mbappe became the first ever to eprom a hat trick ( scoring 3 goals ) in a World Cup.

“He who lapses loses” is an old saying that has been applied in sports, and that my dad taught me on the playing field. Whatever the activity, you can never slack off and stop making the effort.

The biggest comeback in NFL history took place Saturday as the Colts led 33-0 with eight minutes left in the third quarter and the Minnesota Vikings came back to beat them 39-36. This was about to happen to Argentina, because they absolutely dominated for 80 minutes!

This column is the last one before Christmas. This is a unique time of the year, since it generates many festive feelings for the vast majority.

I wish you with all my heart a week full of peace, health and love in the company of your loved ones. We remember those who have already have gone into the path of no return, but must value and cherish those who are still present, thanking God for everything we have and hold, especially in our hearts.

Hopefully we might go back to that time when everything was slower, gentler and more appreciated, and when we valued detail much more than content.

A GREAT YEAR

This 2022 in terms of numbers for the World Boxing Council was extraordinary:

– 73 World title fights (49 men and 24 women).

– 43 cities from 20 countries held world title fights.

– 42 different promoters with world title fights.

– 25 television networks produced the main image that was reproduced in hundreds of networks worldwide.

-154,000 tickets sold by Tyson Fury during his two fights in England, in which he defended his championship.

– 88 million dollars earned by Saúl Canelo Álvarez in the pair of fights, which placed him as the highest paid athlete of the world.

– 41 million dollars offered by Queensberry for the Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte fight , in an all-time purse bid record.

– 14,299 participants in the massive boxing class in Mexico City Zocalo Square , to obtain the Guinness Record.

– 335 events carried out by WBC Cares around the world, giving joy, inclusion and hope to those who are battling.

– 515 Clean Boxing Program anti-doping tests, a program that is carried out internationally by VADA.

– 1,683 delegates from 112 countries attended the 60th WBC Convention, in Acapulco, Guerrero.

Today’s anecdote

Christmas was and is sacred in the Sulaimán family. My father grew up in Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí, a very small and humble tone in the province of Mexico, and when his mother, my grandmother Wasila, fell ill, Don Elías spent all of his money for her medical care.

There were Christmases when my dad looked at the store windows, dreaming of being able to have a toy…

Don José always tried to give us the best Christmas possible, reunited as a family, breaking the piñata, the posada, a delicious dinner, the exchange gifts, and already at midnight, to open our home for the arrival of dozens of friends to celebrate until early the next morning.

I have already told several Christmas anecdotes in this column. Something that my father enjoyed to the fullest was telling his children, and eventually his grandchildren, the story of Santa Claus. He did this for the last time at the UCLA hospital when the doctors gave him permission to go down from intensive care unit to a lounge room, where we were all gathered.

“There were Four Kings who were heading to the birth of the Child God Jesus, on the way following the Star of Bethlehem. One of them decided to stay to help many people who needed it, and so the Three Kings continued on their way, while that fourth stayed to serve the others, and he was … Santa Claus.”

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