By Mauricio Sulaimán
President of the WBC – Son of José Sulaimán
A weekend to remember, with boxing activity at the highest level around the world. Boxing is going through a great moment via superstars in various regions with mega-cards and an endless calendar of superb fights already scheduled, plus others that are a dream for fans.
Mexico presented cards with Televisa from Guadalajara, with Alberto Mora who won the WBC-NABF championship. Televisión Azteca had activity in Hermosillo, where the big surprise occurred as the local idol, Yahir Frank, lost by unanimous decision to the tough and rugged Filipino fighter Jayr Raquinel, who won the WBC continental championship and took away the undefeated status of the Mexican.
The network that is revolutionizing the options for fans in Mexico and Latin America is ESPN Knockout with Disney+, providing a historic weekend as they broadcast the Televisa, TV Azteca, Saudi Arabia, and two Japanese fights, in the early hours of Sunday and Monday.
Teiken Promotions, with Mr. Akihiko Honda as the leader, created an innovative format with eight title fights – four championship fights on Saturday and the same number on Sunday. Mr. Honda, put together cards with Amazon Prime from Japan, and ESPN+ with Top Rank in the U.S., with unbelievable matches.
Kenshiro Teraji, former WBC world lightly weight champion, defeated former WBC flyweight champion, Cristofer Rosales, from Nicaragua, when referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight due to an injury to the visitor’s nose, who had the support of Eddy Reynoso in his corner, and there was the surprise appearance of Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez in the country of the rising sun. Kenshiro is a superb fighter who belongs on the pound-for-pound list as he is now champion in two weight categories and is 16-1 in world title fights.
Early this Monday, Japanese Junto Nakatani successfully defended his WBC bantamweight championship against Thai challenger Tasana Salapat. It was planned that his next commitment would be against Takuma Inoue, brother of “Monster” Naoya Inoue. Unfortunately, Takuma lost, and the fight will not happen, and a fight between Naoya and Nakatani is now in jeopardy.
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it was once again majestically spectacular. For the first time, a woman’s world championship fight was held, and WBC champion Skye Nicolson of Australia defeated Englishwoman Raven Chapman with a stellar performance. Skye is the face of boxing with angelical looks, great charisma, boxing skills, and personality, with a tremendous attitude at all times.
In 25 years, there has not been an undisputed champion at light heavyweight. WBC-IBF-WBO champion Artur Beterbiev rectified that by defeating WBA champion Dimitry Bivol by majority decision.
Beterbiev arrived with 20 wins by KO in 20 fights, yet this time, and for the first time, he went the full distance.
Turki Alalshikh has taken up boxing with brilliance, acumen, vision, and passion. In just one year, he has put on events in Riyadh, Los Angeles, and Wembley, England. Kilometer-long events in the style of Don King from the 90s, plus musical shows, special guests, and to top it off, he raffled off the most exclusive Mercedes-Benz van to fans!
On November 16, in Riyadh, there will be a card promoted by Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, as well as the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury on December 21.
* * *
The controversies continue regarding the official scores. It is evident that there is a lack of knowledge among fans, media and even members of the boxing industry. The perfect example was the fight between Beterbiev and Bivol, in which the former won a majority decision, and there has been a series of comments on social networks that border on the ridiculous. The officials are accused of robbery and the sport is put in the spotlight with unnecessary negative comments.
The scores were 116-112, 115-113 and 114-114. What do these numbers mean? Very simple. The difference is two and one round.
The judge who saw a draw gave six rounds to each fighter. The one who gave 115-113 gave one more to Beterbiev, and the one who gave 116-112, two more in favor of the latter. Scandal? Robbery? Of course not.
Round by round analysis: The following is the official scores from the judges:
Rd. 1 and 2: Bivol.
Rd. 3: Beterbiev.
Rd. 4: two for Bivol, and one for Beterbiev.
Rd. 5 and 6: Beterbiev.
Rd. 7: two for Beterbiev, and one for Bivol.
Rd. 8 and 9: Bivol.
Rd.10, 11 and 12: Beterbiev.
This means that all three Judges saw 10 rounds exactly the same, only two were different between them. 10 rounds scored exactly the same!
Boxing is a sport of appreciation, as is diving and gymnastics. It is what the judges see and note. If there are no knockdowns or points deducted by the referee, everything is up to the judges’ perception, and 95% of the rounds are scored 10-9.
Boxing has two versions, the Olympic and the professional. The first is scored more for landing punches without regard to power or effect. In professional though, the quantity, quality, power, and effect marks a huge difference. While a jab can be landed, a strong punch is equivalent to several jabs. Body blows count a lot because of the effect they have.
DID YOU KNOW THAT…?
The WBC instituted the Open Scoring rule of making official scores known after the fourth and eighth rounds, so the corners, the fans, and the fighters can know how the bout is going. The corners can adjust strategy, and it provides transparency plus clarity in the sport. Unfortunately, neither the U.S. nor England allow this dynamic.
TODAY’S ANECDOTE
My dad traveled to Lebanon around the beginning of the 90s, and in a meeting with the President and businessmen of that country, progress was made to bring Mike Tyson to fight in the Middle East. Months later a series of wars broke out that put an end to the dream.
Today it is a reality that our sport has reached that part of the world, and currently the best boxing events are being held in Saudi Arabia.
I appreciate your comments at [email protected].
I made tuna salad for sandwiches this week. Not quite deli quality but pretty good.
Love it…LOL
I can’t stand tuna or salad! Think I’ll order a fillet steak tonight!
I noticed many comments too.
There are MANY folks that simply do not understand how boxing judging is supposed to be done.
Each 3 minute round is supposed to be scored INDIVIDUALLY, that means that a very competitive fight, with constant back and forth action
could still be scored at the end 11 rounds to 1.
– No mas, Mauricio Sulaimán,
President of the WBC – Son of José Sulaimán.
– No mas, por favor……….
– Forgot to state the most important part of these responses.
– The weather in Southern Zoo Jersey has been pleasant with highs in the mid 60’s/low 70’s, and lows in the upper 40’s.
– Good sleeping weather.
– I have four potted hibiscus plants out back that I’ll have to bring in the garage for the winter.
Love it, LOL
Yes, boxing is doing great. All major US networks have dropped it. Obscure subscription services are the only ones using it to fill air time.
I see both good and bad in open scoring. On one hand, you know how the fight is going, but on the other hand, you don’t really need the system if the judging is good. You also don’t need more judges either. The key is accountability in scoring, not adding more judges. Beterbiev-Bivol was very fair. I would accept a draw to a two-point edge for either boxer. In the business for many decades, I do propose more even rounds at a 10-10 score. Whether a fighter wins a round by a little or dominates without a knockdown, that still counts as a 10-9 round in USA jurisdictions, that don’t like 10-10 rounds. Open scoring has been nullified in the USA/Canada, as well as the UK. It is used for local fights and WBC title fights in Japan, other parts of the Asia-Pacific Realm and some regions of Mexico. None of the other World Championship Organizations us it at all, even if its in a country in which the WBC uses open scoring.
Even rounds are a cop out-somebody wins every round if only by a little.
This is an issue that needed addressing, simply because fans dont know Boxing. And specifically, dont understand how scoring works. A fight can be very close with one guy edging out the rounds. But at the end of the night, the scores can be drastically different. Simply based on one guy doing a little bit more. Because the rounds were close, the fans expect a closer score at the end of the match. The simply cant/dont get it.
Bring back 15 rounds & abolish that so called entertainment in-between the fights & were getting somewhere!
I want to see scooby doo vs sulamain 10 rounds!