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

This week I had two events which filled me with satisfaction and pride. I was invited, together with Erik Morales, to give a very successful motivational talk to the high school students of the Universidad Panamericana, and that same day, the Tecnológico de Monterrey, central region, presented me with the “EXATEC 2023 Merit Award”.

On Saturday, I celebrated 23 years of marriage with Christiane, and I am grateful to God and to life for our destiny together. Incredibly, it was a blind date orchestrated by my friend from Tec de Monterrey, Felipe Quezada.

I was dedicated in body and soul to working in the family business, our factory, Controles Gráficos, and in supporting my father in everything that was needed in the WBC; For this reason, I did not have a girlfriend, and in reality, I went out very little to social commitments.

I met Felipe at the airport, his girlfriend Vivian came for him, so I asked him to introduce me to a friend or cousin, because she was a countrywoman… Four months went by, and suddenly, one Saturday she calls me to give me Chris’s phone number, and that’s how it all started.

We had a wonderful wedding, our families hit it off immediately, and an unforgettable party that almost resembled a WBC Convention was thrown as Don King, Julio César Chávez, Mr. Honda, and a host of beloved people from the world of boxing did the honor of joining us.

APRIL 1st, 2000

Life was very different then from how it is today in many ways, simply the honeymoon was something that those who have it today can no longer live. Cell phones were very limited, in reality I did not bring that device that enslaves us today. We made a few calls, we took photos and video cameras, we had to wait to develop the images to remember and sit down to watch the videos on TV ; it was unforgettable.

Security at airports was very different; Everything radically changed in 2001, due to the attack on the Twin Towers, in NY.

OTHER CURIOUS FACTS FROM 2000

We started the year with the great celebration involving the dawn of the millennium. At that time there was great concern about what would happen to computer systems. The dollar was at 9.50 pesos, Vicente Fox was elected president of Mexico; meanwhile, Barak Obama, president of the United States and Vladimir Putin, in Russia. The Panama Canal returned to the ownership of that country and the financial institution Lehman Brothers went bankrupt…

The Olympic Games were held in Sydney; The Lakers won the NBA title, with star Shaquille O’Neal and the Baltimore Ravens were the NFL champions. Meanwhile, the Yankees defeated the New York Mets in a local derby to win their 26th MLB championship. And Deportivo Toluca beat Santos Laguna, the Summer Soccer Tournament in Mexico.

As for boxing, it was a great year for the WBC, with great champions and important fights.

The world champions of that year were immortals:
Lennox Lewis (Heavyweight).
Roy Jones (Light Heavy).
Javier Castillejo (super welterweight).
Tito Trinidad, Oscar de la Hoya and Shane Mosley (welter).
Kostya Tzsyu (Super Lightweight).
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Super Featherweight).
Veeraphol Sahaprom (Bantam).

And the Mexicans José Luis Castillo (lightweight), Guty Espadas (feather), Erik Morales (super bantamweight) and Jaguar Aguirre (straw).

Also, it was the first fight of the fabulous trilogy between Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.

Shane Mosley defeated Oscar de la Hoya to win the WBC welterweight title.

Julio César Chávez had his last title fight, in which he was defeated by Kostya Tzsyu.

Did you know…?

North Korea’s Masamori Tokuyama fought South Korea’s In-Joo Cho in a fight displaying the united Korean flag in what was a historic event in Japan. Tokuyama defeated Cho, by decision, and both embraced in the center of the ring covered in front of that flag.

Today’s anecdote

Our wedding was a big party that ended almost at noon for some. An orchestra played the well loved songs, as well as the throwing of the garter belt, the bouquet, and the typical fanning of the groom, and of course, chilaquiles…

Around four in the morning, my dad was leaving. I accompanied him to his car for the final farewell, but he told me: “Mijito, were those that I saw at the exit… chilaquiles?…”

Immediately afterward, I ran up to him with food so that my old man would go to sleep happy.

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