By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán & President of the WBC

July 4 marks four years since that event that changed my life. That schoolmate from the Ovalle Monday Institute, a friend since kindergarten, my dear Dr. Pablo Orozco, with his wonderful team led by Dr. Ortiz de la Peña, took care of me, and today I can enjoy a life to the fullest.

I was an athlete during my childhood and my youth. Good ballplayer: baseball was always the sport of the Sulaimans. I also played soccer. I was a good goalkeeper trying to imitate my idol Miguel Marín, and every Friday at my house there was a meeting with friends to put on the boxing gloves.

When I finished my MBA at ITESM, I went directly to take charge and run our medical products factory to give my dad total freedom, so he could attend the World Boxing Council. It was then that, without realizing it, I abandoned my sports life. Without exercising, I fell into unhealthy habits, mainly workaholism. I put everything aside to dedicate my body and soul to the company and to Don José.

Eventually, I got into helping my dad in boxing, basically to take the load off him and, at the same time, to have the chance to be close to him and enjoy being around him. Then came the commitments that, being more involved in this sport, became common: early mornings, sleepless nights, breakfasts, lunches and dinners, short and long trips, few hours of sleep, stress. You all in boxing know what I mean.

By recovering from my health crisis, I started a new stage in my life. I got to experience discipline again, back to basics, and, since then, I walk most days. I understood the importance of patience, when it is ignored, when desperation leads you to break discipline and fall into bad habits.

I formed a wonderful group called Wellness, in which friends like to exercise to turn their lives around, in which they share dynamics, health information, and motivate others to not stop looking for a better life day after day. It has helped me as a daily reminder and a source of inspiration to keep on moving forward.

My wife and children have given me a great surprise by also turning their day to day based on sports. Christiane has already run two half marathons, and now she is devoted to yoga; José goes to the gym six days a week and brings great discipline to his weightlifting routines. Valeria and Mauricio train boxing five times a week.

This is how we have changed the afternoons of pizzas and popcorn lying in the couch watching TV, for sports challenges and healthy and nutritious food.

How boring, right? And the lunches and long dinners on my constant trips? Boxing is an activity where everything is resolved at the table. Wherever I go, the locals want to entertain me in the best restaurants in each city or country, with typical drinks, with more and more food. It’s not easy to say no or set a limit, but so far, I’m doing my best effort.

The simple fact of knowing that at six or seven in the morning the WBC Walk begins wherever I am, puts a natural brake on everyone who knows me, and of course, myself. Making that walk mandatory, it is already a tradition among some and we go out together to give it a go. That phrase: “How nice to walk in the morning!” (Que Rico Caminar por la mañana) It has been seen in England, Ukraine, Italy, Australia, Japan, Turkey, Albania, Dubai and the US, in cities like Las Vegas and New York, as well as in many others.

At the annual WBC Conventions, large groups gather in the lobby to go for a walk very early before the day’s sessions begin. So, in truth, I can assure you that my life is not boring. On the contrary, it is of great satisfaction and motivation not to give in to the temptation to do what is not good for you.

This week, Josh Taylor decided to vacate the WBC World Super Lightweight Championship. Just two months ago he had the great distinction of being the undisputed monarch with four belts; now he already vacated two of them. He declined to fight José “Chon” Zepeda, and thus, the latter will face former champion José Carlos Ramírez for the vacant title.

It is very rare to see a boxer vacate the Green and Gold Belt. Whatever was his reason, we wish him success in his career in and out of the ring.

Did you know…?

The WBC instituted the purse bid process for when the fights that are mandatory and an agreement between the promoters cannot be reached, it is decided who wins the rights to promote that fight.

This year we saw the largest figure in purse bid history, as Queensberry Promotions bid $41.105 million on the fight between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte.

Another great rule that the WBC introduced is to determine a 10 percent bonus for the winner of the fight, thus giving boxers a much higher incentive in winning.

Today`s anecdote…

Salvatore Cherchi, Italy’s biggest boxing promoter and one of the best in the world, visited Mexico last week. I have been fortunate to spend a lot of time with him since 2001, when he travelled many times to our country to meet with my dad, and attend to important issues of WBC fights.

I got to know him in a closer way. It coincided with the birth of my first son, José, who was named with great pride after his grandfather.

To explain it better, days before he was born, we were all at a traditional Sunday lunch at my parents’ house, and Don Jóse, seeing my wife Christiane, sighed and said: “How nice it must be to name a grandson after his grandfather!”. So, there was no doubt about which name to choose for my firstborn. I told Salvatore that story and we laughed a lot, because my dad’s plan was clever. One fine day, Cherchi arrived and saw my father, who was holding Josecito. He approached him and said: “What is the name of your grandson? Raffaello?” My dad turned around and firmly hit the table and pointed out: “his name is José.” Salvatore and I burst out laughing, followed by my dad, who immediately understood we had framed him into such a trap.

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