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

While Being outside of Mexico on a family trip, I received the information about what happened in the stadium during a soccer match between Querétaro and Atlas, a horrifying riot as the local fans of Queretaro broke the gates and attacked the visiting fans of Atlas; the game had to be stopped by the referee and players fled to the dressing rooms while fans entered the field trying to escape from the attack only to find themselves in a battlefield. I refuse to watch the videos circulating on social networks and WhatsApp chats. When one watches these violent events, sensitivity is lost and, in this way, we stop being shocked and things are taken as normal.

It is a sad day for Mexico, for soccer, for sports, and for our society. God grant solace to all the families who are suffering at this time and help us to learn from this event. I hope that all those who participated in the senseless violence, pay the consequences and that this tragedy moves all of us in sports to work on implementing preventive measures and protocols.

The World Boxing Council has been working for a couple of years with the International Center for Sports Safety (ICSS) and progress is being made on the first objective, which is to create the code of behavior for boxers and their teams. The center is an international non-profit organization headquartered in Doha, Qatar, established in 2010 and formally launched in March 2011, with a global mission to promote and protect the integrity and safety of sports.

We have had sessions with all the members of the boxing industry, promoters, television stations, etc…. And this is how this code is being shaped to be implemented worldwide in boxing.

We have seen with great concern how the verbal and physical aggression in events prior to the fights has grown and is more common. It is already business as usual to see in press conferences and weigh-ins fighters and their teams engage in verbal wars that have even turned into fistfights.

Each of these incidents is reprehensible and unacceptable as a potential tragedy is right there close at hand.

The result of these brawls is reflected in ticket sales and pay per view. The titillated curiosity to see an event that “heated up” with aggressions, pushes, and blows, leads fans to follow the fight with greater expectation.

This is, unfortunately, human nature. That is why need to stand up as an industry and put an end to these dangerous happenings.

Not only is it wrong because of the great danger of someone getting hurt and the great potential losses if a fight gets canceled but it is also totally against the spirit and ethos of boxing plus sport in general.

Sport is a wonderful means to have a healthy and happy society. Each single person in the gym, on the fields, or on the courts is a young person off the streets, where there are so many temptations that lead young people down the path of evil.

Sport is to compete. To show that the sacrifice, work, passion, and dedication were worth it, and seeking to succeed in a clean and honorable way. Fair play is a thousand times more common than cheating.

How incredible it is to see after twelve rounds of blows, that at the end of the fight, the boxers invariably meet in the center of the ring, merge into a hug and recognize their virtues and courage, becoming friends for life.

Román Chocolatito González decisively defeated the Mexican Julio Cesar Rey Martínez and thus won the prestigious Diamond Belt that the WBC awards as a special trophy in very select fights between elite boxers. The Nicaraguan is already a legendary boxer, a champion in four divisions and has faced the best of each of them.

Great victory that leaves the third fight against Juan Francisco “Gallo” Estrada ready for super flyweight supremacy. Martínez was very brave and deserves all the recognition because he not only moved up from flyweight to save the card when Estrada was left out for COVID, but it was with just five weeks of notice.

Did you know…

Punishments for acts that put the physical integrity of athletes and fans at risk must be severely punished. Mike Tyson bit the ear of Evander Holyfield, ripping off a piece of it, which caused a terrible pitched battle between fans at the MGM. Tyson was fined $3 million dollars in 1997.

Today’s anecdote…

In addition to boxing, Don José was passionate about other sports, including baseball and soccer. He always condemned the violence that was generated between fans inside and outside of sports venues.

Although he tried not to say it publicly, he was the victim of a press conference incident of violence. In addition to being rendered unconscious for several seconds from a blow that he received to the head, he had the lifelong aftermath of ringing in one of his ears. It happened on the morning of January 22nd in New York. In a meeting with the media for the match between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, control between both teams was lost and violence flared.

They attacked each other, resulting in several of them falling on top of my father, who was behind a curtain, with the consequences that forever changed his life.

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