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

The work that the have in life is difficult to measure as it is undoubtedly the most influential element for everything. News keep society informed and educated, commercials and marketing give life and success to products, interviews and segments make histories that create heroes or villains and so on.

Without media coverage, any activity is minimized, and the results of said activity are reflected proportionally.

For example, a product without advertising is unlikely to become a massive success, even though it may be the best on the market.

In a similar way, an event without media coverage will not have the impact or significance it deserves.

Boxing is a sport that has always been extensively covered by the media. First it was the newspapers; the reports of the fights covered several pages in the newspapers, and every day there was news of the personal life of the fighters, international information, and all kinds of publications in which this sport covered a large part of the pages, day after day. This happened for decades in many countries around the world.

Later the radio arrived as a great complement to the written media. Week after week you could listen and follow the bouts from all over the world.

The invention and development of television was a big change in every way and in many areas of life, but especially in sports. Boxing was one of the great elements that television used to achieve tuning into its channels. It was thus that boxing and wrestling took space in the weekly programming, and in the same way, they were the platform for some commercial brands to grow impressively.

As a matter of fact, in Mexico, the traditional Saturday boxing show was a formula that worked for 47 years without interruption. Televisa, sponsored by Corona, took this sport to every home in our country, from the Arena Coliseo, the Arena México and other different venues around the world, thus creating great fans for our sport. Television attracted millions of fans at home, instead of only the thousands of fans in the the arenas.

Then came Pay Per View, and it killed free open air television, as it was limited to those who could afford to pay for the events, taking away the people’s ability to see the fights for free at home.

I had the honor of attending the enthronement of 10 members of the Sportswriters Hall of Fame last week here in Mexico City.

That’s where I was inspired to choose this topic for the column. Being a journalist, photographer, columnist, blogger or whatever the activity within the media is, in truth, a highly specialized job. They mentioned the hard days at school and college, the preparation they had, the difficult life, full of sacrifices by always having to be away from their families, with their columns, photographs or narratives, which are such an important part during the athletes’ careers.

It is impossible to think about baseball without immediately remembering the voice of or Vince Scully, or NFL to think about John Madden, or boxing with the immediate thought of Howard Cosell, Jim Lampley and many others…

We live in a different world. Technology has arrived, and there is no going back. Just as it has great advantages, it also brings threats and problems. As for journalism, there have been very big changes, specifically I will talk about the multiplicity of people who call themselves a journalist, and even a media outlet.

Individuals who just by opening a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any social network account and having a cell phone, call themselves a journalist without, on many occasions, having the slightest preparation in the field. Without studies or certification, they go out into the world to position themselves as reporters and that of their media. As with everything in life, there are good guys and there are bad guys, and in boxing this phenomenon has multiplied significantly.

The WBC and I have the utmost respect for the media and journalists. I have never denied an interview and I have never evaded a question, everything is answered. Constructive criticism is very important to me, it is the way to receive guidance, when you make a mistake and you can improve in every way. The problem is when the criticism is disrespectful, it is systematic and without foundation; it is more of a campaign on issues of interest with personal benefits.

Last week I had one of those interviews. A person requested an interview through direct message on Twitter and I as usual, accepted, what a hard experience, we was without the slightest professional ethics, dedicated himself to attacking and trying to corner me, without the least professional ethics. After half an hour of Zoom, and having the testimony of the boxer on which he based his attack and being ridiculed, the boxer confirmed that the WBC is proceeding correctly, and that he is very grateful for the great opportunities. The pseudo journalist bowed his head in defeat and proceeded to end the interview. What’s more, I invite you to see it at the following link: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1BRJjZZWloQJw

Did you know…?

Don José Sulaimán was a unique human being and a great visionary. He spent his final years developing a digital platform, which is now called streaming; he wanted to have the WBC Boxing channel so that promoters, who did not have television contracts, could broadcast shows.

Unfortunately, the technology was not ready, and he did not have the experience plus infrastructure which is now a reality.

Today’s anecdote

My dad grew up in Ciudad Valles, a very small city in San Luis Potosí. When he talked about his beginnings in boxing, his story captivated us: “My friends were boxers, and that’s why I got enthusiastic, but I remember how your grandfather Elías would narrate to me with great emotion, when he listened to Joe Louis’s fights on the radio. The Brown Bomber was the best known man in the world, and thanks to the radio, an Arab man, living in Mexico, followed his career and glory achievements. That’s the beautiful magic of the media.”

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