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

Countless times I heard my dad begin the story of his life with this phrase: “ A ship set sail from the Far East “ …. And that’s how it all started. A Lebanese man and a Syrian woman, who arrived in Mexico after fate made them take the wrong ship, since they intended to reach Boston, but arrived at the port of Veracruz.” So, José Sulaimán Chagnón, son of Elías and Wasila, was born in Mexico.

On May 30, my dad would have turned 90 years old, and that is why I decided to dedicate today’s column to him and his everlasting memory.

He was born and raised in the province of Mexico, mainly in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, and Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí.

He was a restless child, shy and withdrawn, although always visionary and full of dreams. His best friends were boxers, and that is how the passion for the sport of his life developed, experiencing from a young age everything that boxing means. It opened his eyes to understand the barbaric abuse that fighters suffered in all the possible aspects; Thus he formed his ideals that, when he grew up, led him to revolutionize and humanize world boxing.

Baseball was his great passion. He was a wonderful player, a pitcher with great speed and ball control on the mound. He was nicknamed “Bob Feller Huasteco,” with power at the plate and great grit, always fighting to win.

He pitched a perfect game and five no-hitters . He was signed by the Boston Braves to play in the Major Leagues, but fracturing the tibia and fibula during a play at home plate ended his career.

Another of his passions was photography. He took mail courses and used the whole family as models to send his material and practices to the Nikon Academy.

Don José managed to capture magical moments with his camera around the world, and his definition of what photography is the following: “A moment in life that will never come back.”

He studied business administration and constantly pursued specialties, always seeking to cultivate himself and continue learning. A tireless worker, who told us: “Nothing in life is impossible, that word does not exist; there are some things that take longer, but nothing is impossible.”

He found the love of his life, my dear mother, Martha Saldívar, the best mother there can be. She had a boyfriend when he met her; and he said: “End it”; my mother replied: “He lives in Mexico City, give me 15 days to think about it.” They kept seeing each other, and during a date, my mother told him: “Well, 15 days have passed,” and my father replied: “So what? You have been my girlfriend since day one”, and he gave her the first kiss… They created six children and 14 grandchildren, form a united, loving family, based on unbreakable principles and values ​​that were instilled in us throughout our lives and my mother still demands of us.

Already with three children, and the fourth on the way, fate took him to Mexico City to open operations for a North American company: Graphic Controls / Controles Gráficos. That was another of his great passions. He dedicated his body and soul to achieving a successful factory that he eventually acquired in its entirety in 1990.

In 1968, he joined the World Boxing Council, to serve as support on various committees. He introduced The WBC ratings, handled legal cases, and was eventually appointed Secretary General of the body, under the leadership of then-president, Professor Ramón G. Velázquez.

In 1975 he traveled to Tunisia, in North Africa, to the Convention where, to his surprise, he was elected President, a position he held until his last breath, on January 16, 2014.

DID YOU KNOW…?

His favorite teams were Cruz Azul, Dallas Cowboys and Dodgers (by Fernando Valenzuela).
His favorite dishes were home-cooked tacos by my mom and Chinese food. His favorite desserts: apple pie, from the Intercontinental Hotel in Paris, and strawberry ice cream.

His values ​​were loyalty and justice, and he always proclaimed and sought unity among all.

TODAY’S ANECDOTE

Although he was CEO of Graphic Controls and President of the World Boxing Council, he took time to be the manager / coach of our baseball teams in the Lindavista League. He was a very demanding coach and losing was not an option; he had to go out and win.

The level of little league baseball was extremely high; the Olmeca, Maya, Tolteca, Petrolera, Mexica, Anahuac, among others, generated that the annual district tournaments were of great expectation.

One of the happiest moments in Don José’s life was that day when, in the last inning, with Lindavista losing 5-2 to Tolteca, and facing the best pitcher of the tournament, my brother Héctor hit a homerun, giving us the victory and the pass to the grand finale.

My dad wrote a very emotional letter to Güero, as Hector is known, which he still reads when he needs special motivation to face adversity in life.

I appreciate his comments at [email protected]