By Mauricio Sulaiman
Son of Jose Sulaiman / President of the WBC
The World Boxing Council unveiled the Mestizo Belt this past Thursday in Toluca, in the State of Mexico.
The WBC commemorative belts, of May 5 and September 16, were created to serve as a majestic trophy, which is presented to the winner of the highest-ranking fight held on these two traditional Mexican holidays, regardless of the nationality of the contenders.
It is a tradition spanning more than 40 years, so much so, that the most important fights take place precisely around these two dates, and it is more than significant, for the most important boxer in the world to define his annual calendar taking them into account as the focal point. These dates have been passed down for generations between Sal Sánchez, Julio Cesar Chávez, Oscar de la Hoya, Érik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Márquez, Floyd Mayweather and now Saúl Canelo Álvarez.
It was a very emotive ceremony, in which the national sport of Mexico “Charreria” was displayed. Those present and those virtually connected were able to enjoy a wonderful demonstration of the highly skilled activities that charros and skirmishes presented with great skill and passion. There was great synergy between the champions and the Charros, in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect.
The Mestizo Belt has engendered a great impact, due to its beauty and the evident complexity involved in its concept and subsequent creation; It took more than 400 hours of work, in the able hands of brilliant Mexican artisans / artists. The leadership of the Secretariat of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the State of Mexico was magnificent and with great passion, plus making it possible to have and hold this masterpiece, which is a superb work of art.
This concept was born in 2017, and every year a culture is selected for such belts. The first was a surprise that immediately positioned itself as something magnificent. A gift that boxing and Mexico gave to the world. The Huichol Belt achieved the objective of uniting art and culture with sport. It was made in the Sierra Madre, with thousands of beads depicting the design that the gods transmitted to the Huichol artisans during the traditional ceremony.
The second culture elected was the Chiapaneca, achieving two wonderful pieces using amber that only is produced in that particular state of our country. The belt was named after Bats’il Ajaw, which means “true hero.”
Then in 2019, the Mayan culture was elected with two works of art, produced by the Rubico gallery, in collaboration with Locos por el Arte, using jade and thus exalting the majestic feathered serpent Quetzalcóatl.
In 2020 the State of Mexico was selected, and due to the great diversity of cultures of this entity, it was decided to make the Mazahua edition first and for September the Otomí.
Those were two beautiful belts, which are based on the textiles of the region. Unfortunately, in 2020 there was no boxing, due to the pandemic, and the objective of presenting them to the world as it should be, was not achieved; For this reason, the WBC decided to grant 2021 to the State of Mexico, once again, towards the elaboration of the belts.
Fights in which these special recognitions have been awarded:
2017
Huichol I, May 5: Canelo Álvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Huichol II, September 16: Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin.
Gennady Golovkin took the Chiapaneco Blue Belt to home in 2018.
2018
Chiapaneco I, May 5: Gennady Golovkin vs. Vanes Martirosyan.
Chiapaneco II, September 16: Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin.
In that same 2018, Saúl Canelo Álvarez won the white Chiapaneco belt.
2019
Maya I, May 5: Canelo Álvarez vs. Daniel Jacobs.
Maya II, September 16: Tyson Fury vs. Otto Wallin.
Tyson Fury, won the Mayan Belt in September 2019.
2020
Mazahua, May 5: Dedicated to the Heroes of Humanity for brave and dedicated medical services.
Otomí, September 16: Presented to Julio César Chávez at his exhibition with Jorge “Travieso” Arce.
2021
Mestizo, May 5: Canelo Álvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders.
DID YOU KNOW…?
These belts have earned and gained acceptance throughout the boxing world. There are many champions of the past who constantly express their feelings, having not been able to obtain one of these works of art. Sugar Ray Leonard, Lennox Lewis, Roberto Durán and many more have constantly talked about and acknowledged their beauty plus the admiration they have for the rich Mexican culture.
TODAY’S ANECDOTE
My dad started creating commemorative belts to highlight the importance of a fight between great contenders.
The first was the Diamond Belt, which appeared on the scene, when Manny Pacquiao signed to fight Miguel Cotto. Don José actively participated in its design and in the selection of the diamonds that were part of that very expensive as well as an exquisite belt which caught the attention of the world.
One day I brought him negative comments that appeared on social networks, criticizing that a new championship was being created. “Don’t worry, my son, there are fans and some media that are not interested in understanding the concepts of the innovations we make in boxing; This is a recognition for a fight. It will cause great publicity outside the common boxing media and many people who do not normally watch boxing will be drawn in to watch our sport.
“This is exactly what happened when we went down from 15 to 12 rounds; the same when we changed the weigh-in to one day before the fight; when we eradicated the six-ounce gloves and thus in every change there is resistance, it is human nature.”
I appreciate your comments at [email protected].
So pretty much two more free belts for Canelo smh
The WBC need stop the crap about the belts
The WBC needs to shut down once and for all! His belts are worthless. The CHAMPION makes the belt, not the other way around.
This guy loves listening to himself.
Thank you, WBC, for pushing for the day before weigh-ins…so that a junior lightweight title holder can step into the ring to defend his title as a welterweight while a middleweight can step into the ring as a cruiserweight. Maybe we should just call all these belts what they are…mechanisms to collect more sanctioning fees from prizefighters as a form of extortion.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder & none of these spangled baubles are a patch on the Lonsdale belt!
A WBC web site worthless to make a comment
I could not agree more!
Put a glove on MS writing hand.Tower of piffle ,should get his own blog or wbc website .One Eye ,son of Two Eyes.
His “innovations” helped drive more fans away from the sport.
Definitively, Sulaiman still does not get it. The CHAMPION makes the belt, not the other way around!
Another worthless belt courtesy of Mauricio Sulaiman. When is he going to understand that the CHAMPION makes the belt, NOT the other way around!
A little tidbit about the WBC: In early 1998, Roy Jones Jr. announced that he was relinquishing his WBC light heavyweight title. In response, the WBC ordered a bout between Graciano Rocchigiani from Germany and the former champion Michael Nunn to fill the vacancy, sanctioning it as a world championship match. On 21 March 1998, Rocchigiani won the fight and a WBC belt; in the subsequent WBC rankings, he was listed as “Light Heavyweight World Champion”.
Jones, however, had a change of heart and asked if the WBC would reinstate him as the champion. In a move that violated nearly a dozen of its own regulations, the WBC granted the reinstatement. Rocchigiani received a letter from the WBC advising that the publication of his name as champion was a typographical error and he had never been the official titleholder.
Rocchigiani immediately filed a lawsuit against the WBC in a U.S. federal court, claiming that the organization’s actions were both contrary to their own rules and injurious to his earning potential (due to diminished professional stature). On 7 May 2003, the judge ruled in Rocchigiani’s favor, awarding him $30 million (U.S.) in damages and reinstating him as a former WBC champion (Rocchigiani had lost a bout since his WBC title match).
The following day, the WBC sought protection by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (i.e., corporate debt restructuring) in Puerto Rico. The organization spent the next 13 months trying to negotiate a 6-figure settlement with Rocchigiani, but the fighter at first rejected the proposal.
The WBA and the WBC are the MOST corrupted boxing entities w/ no credibility whatsoever. Many boxing pundits have brought up this subject in numerous occasions. They created 17 categories per boxing sanctioning body, and if you multiply that by 4 four – (WBA, WBC, WBF, WBO), we end up having 68 Champions. They have created a system similar to a fast junk-food business; the more crap they sell, the more they earn…