By Mauricio Sulaiman
Son of Jose Sulaiman/President of the WBC

The world of sports and entertainment is fascinating, it is what enthuses humanity week after week, month after month and year after year. Just as the FIFA soccer world cup in Qatar keeps us all entertained, excited and with passion on the verge of each game, also on Sundays it is American football NFL and during 162 long games it is the MLB baseball season and the national soccer leagues of each country plus the boxing fights or the Formula 1, the Oscars, the Grammys. Entertainment in theater plays and all about music concerts all over the world .

In short, being able to attend and witness one of these events is quite an experience. From the one who is right beside the lamps in the last seat of the arena or the one who is in the front row. The atmosphere that is generated is the union of emotions that comes from the soul, generating moments that are stored the heart with unforgettable memories and feelings. All these events that are witnessed by thousands of people in arenas and stadiums and millions more on television or digital media take place as an event which lasts specific time until it is finished.

As they initiate, the passion is lived intensely during the events and at the end of this we all go home or turn off the television and it’s over. But what is behind each event? What happens for that to take place and what happens in the dressing rooms, in the corridors, the parking lots, the production trucks, in short, all of this is called BackStage.

The world of boxing is fascinating behind the scenes. First, once an event is announced and in order to get to the day of the event , all the participants had an intense preparation to reach the day of the fight. The boxer, obviously, is the one with the greatest preparation, both physically and mentally and strategically.

He has undergone months of grueling sessions that are divided into weeks, days and hours. An incomparable routine and discipline to get into a fight that lasts a maximum of 48 minutes of action (12 rounds of 3 minutes plus 1 resting minute).

Getting up pre dawn at 4 or 5 in the morning to run, 2 or even 3 training sessions in the gym every day, strict diet, studying the opponent and considering the strategy to follow and the loneliness of being away from family, friends and the world for an extended period of time and the very famous and inexplicable practice of sexual abstinence for at least a month before the fight.

Likewise, the promoters prepare the event months in advance, contracts with the arena, broadcast platform, sponsors, governments authorities and permits, organizations, press logistics, etc… Likewise, each of these mentioned carry out their planning for the day of the event.

Then it comes fight week. Hundreds of people arrive at the final venue from all over the world.

Trips and transfers, arrival at the hotel, settling in and preparing what will be done that week. There is a final press conference, media tour and interviews, meetings with the television production, meetings with the boxing commission where the fight takes place, medical exams, anti-doping tests, autograph signings and promotional events in the city, dinners, cocktails , distribution of tickets and credentials, rehearsals in the arena.

Meetings of all kinds, security protocol, social responsibility events, attention to VIPS, rules meeting, selection of gloves for the fight and finally the official weigh-in. By successfully giving weight there is a radical change in everyone, as the fight is now official.

The rituals that many of the fighters have encapsulate customs and even obsessive habits. There are those who put a rosary on the laces of their boots, who get up from one side of the bed on the day of the fight, the ones who have something specific for breakfast. An incredible number of things that only the intimacy of their team knows.

Then they must leave on their way to the arena, arrive and start the journey to the dressing room, settle in and accommodate everything necessary for the preparation before the fight.

The rest table, chairs, music, buckets, ice, water, the uniform mouth guards, towels, bandages, the very common altar, champion belt.

There are those who keep a small team limited to the trainer, cutman and maybe a couple more and there are those who have 50 or more people in their dressing room; The family, sparring partners, nutritionist, psychologist, friends, representatives, lawyers, those superstar entourages.

The Referee arrives with the commissioners and the final instructions are given, we proceed to bandage and glove procedure and stretch and warm up to be ready to go out into the ring.

Suddenly there is a unique moment in each locker room, many times falls into deathly silence, many others do a group prayer.

The moment arrives for the farewell of the mother, wife, children and the door open to walk towards the ring, when entering the tunnel everything changes, the lights, the music is heard and the roar of the crowd with the expectation of seeing the start of combat.

The boxer climbs the stairs, enters between the ropes and finally sees his opponent again in the opposite corner, many people in the ring, the Referee checks them, hymns are sung, the official presentation is made and from one second to another the ring

It remains empty with only the rival in the corner in front and the Referee for the clang of the bell for the start of the fight and when this happens and the public explodes in a deafening roar, that’s where the event that I’ve been preparing for months begins.

Today’s anecdote

My dad took me to a very important fight: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Macho Camacho, I was a rookie back then, when I entered Macho’s dressing room he told me “My son, now you will act as supervisor, give him the life insurance form so that he can sign it” I took a step forward and the Puerto Rican fighter stares at me and says get out of here kid don’t bother me! Cant you see in preparing to fight ? , Don Jose approaches him and says “Champion, he is my son” And Macho stopped, gave me a hug and started laughing hard: “You can’t be joked Don Jose!”

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