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

Boxing is an ancient sport, it exists by human nature initially to establish supremacy among tribal leaders.

There are traces of it in the vast majority of civilizations in the history of humanity, from Rome, Mesopotamia, Egypt and even Phoenicia, Crete and Greece, just as everything disappeared in the Middle Ages, but re-emerged in England in 1681. However, the country that formed the original Olympics was Greece and also the modern Olympic Games, since 1904.

For more than 300 years, the rules were actually minimal, and it was not until the creation of the WBC, in 1963, that a good number were implemented, in the medical area.

The basis of this sport is that it is structured by divisions corresponding to weight. Originally there were eight (heavyweight to flyweight).

Weight has been the eternal and perpetual enemy of the boxer. For this reason, it should be the highest priority for everyone, but the sad reality is that only the fighter and his trainer are the ones who manage it, often with great ignorance of highly important things that have to do with health.

The boxer is capable of doing anything to get into the ring to earn a living; he can fight 15, 20 or 50 rounds, do it without gloves, rules, because that’s how it was in the beginning. That’s why the WBC exists, which together with the local boxing commissions, impose rules and protocols that protect them, even from themselves.

But returning to the subject of weighing, it has always been a delicate subject. With eight categories, the difference between one and the other was several kilograms, and therefore, the boxers had to make great sacrifices to stay in the lower divisions, since moving up to the next category meant giving up a lot of advantage.

The beloved Raúl Ratón Macías always told how his stomach shrank so much that he was never able to eat normally, despite retiring from boxing at the age of 22. His diet, for years, was based on water, eggs, lettuce and, occasionally, a chicken breast.

One of the great achievements of the WBC was the introduction of the intermediate divisions, from the original eight, there are now 18:

Heavyweight – Minimum of 224 pounds (101 kg)
Bridger Weight – Up to 224 lbs (101 kg)
Cruiser Weight – Up to 200 lbs. (90,892 kg)
Light Heavy Weight – Up to 175 lbs. (79,378 kg)
Super Middleweight – Up to 168 lbs. (76,203 kg)
Middle Weight – Up to 160 lbs. (72,574 kg)
Super welter – Up to 154 lbs. (69,853 kg)
Welterweight – Up to 147 lbs. (66,678 kg)
Super Lightweight – Up to 140 lbs. (63,503 kg)
Lightweight – Up to 135 lbs. (61,235 kg)
Super Feather – Up to 130 lbs. (58,967 kg)
Featherweight – Up to 126 lbs. (57,153 kg)
Super Bantamweight or Jr. Feather Weight – Up to 122 lbs. (55,225 kg)
Bantamweight – Up to 118 lbs. (53,525 kg)
Super Flyweight – Up to 115 pounds (52,163 kg)
Fly Weight – Up to 112 lbs (50,802 kg)
Light Fly Weight – Up to 108 pounds (48,988 kg)
Straw Weight – Up to 105 lbs. (47,627 kg).

Another great change was the official weigh-in, which takes place one day before, and not just six hours before the fight. Thus, the fighter can rehydrate, regenerate brain fluid and… sleep!

Before, they did not sleep because of the anguish of waiting to make weight, and the discomfort of dehydration.

The WBC has a rule that the champion and his challenger must present their weigh-ins 30, 14 and seven days before the fight, in order to monitor their gradual weight loss. However, it would help a lot if everyone had to do these prior weigh-ins, including fighters of four, six, eight and 10 rounds.

The WBC introduced the BoxMed app in 2024, and it will be one of the great tools that will greatly help with the weight management process.

What is highly worrying is that today there is still a serious problem with various weight loss methods.

The black night is what is known in the underworld to those who practice techniques that push the human being to the limit, and put the physical integrity of the fighter at high risk, and without them knowing it.

I don`t know the details, but after seeing what happened with the Mexican Jonathan Rodríguez, in Tokyo, I will undertake the task of investigating thoroughly.

The principle on which the cheaters who teach boxers to undergo this system are based is to deceive the body, and generate a reaction that goes against the normal, and thus reduce a large number of kilos in a few hours.

The black night is hell, according to those who have experienced it, because it is an unreal suffering, like Russian roulette. It’s hours of suffering, in exchange for a couple of months of a more relaxed preparation, without the normal process of gradually losing weight in a healthy way.

Something I’ve heard is drinking several liters of alkaline water, which generates a reaction in the body, where everything is taken out. Several hours in a tub with hot water to sweat as much as possible, among others.

But it turns out that this practice has grown so much that there are already adverse results. There are several who have to be hospitalized, and the fights have been canceled; others who can no longer lose even a gram, therefore they do not give their official weight; even women have not given it, which never happened before.

We will launch an aggressive awareness campaign about the dangers of not doing things right, of trying to cut corners, of listening to unscrupulous opportunistic people, who deceive their prey, disguised as grandmothers while in reality they are wolves of evil.

Did you know…?

Modern boxing re-emerged in England (1681), when the Duke of Albemarle organized a fight between his butler and his butcher to entertain the guests, who placed bets.

Today’s anecdote

My father always remembered with great joy having attended the Mexico 68 Olympic Games.

“I have never lived a moment like that when El Tibio (Felipe Muñoz) won the gold medal in the Olympic Pool. The scandal in the last 50 meters was a volcano erupting; the public reacted in joy like I had never seen before.” Don José always celebrated the triumphs of Mexico; a lover and proud fan of any athlete who went out to represent our country.

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