By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán / WBC President

My father, José Sulaimán, found himself in Thailand, which received him with unimaginable hospitality and loyalty, when the WBC arrived in that nation, in the early 1980s. This inspired the already latent talent of Thai warriors to conquer a large number of championships and world championships, since before that, very few fighters had strayed from Muaythai to enter the international boxing arena. My father had the honor of being with King Bhumibol Adulyadej on five occasions, who in their last meeting asked the WBC to bring the sport to the world, since it had fragmented into many other disciplines.

As I write this column, I am in Venice to witness a historic tournament: the WBC Muaythai World Amateur Cup. With 440 athletes, from 49 countries and 1,400 attendees. They competed for three days in four rings, from sunup to sundown, to reach the sunset final, which will take place in just a few hours.

The Mexican delegation consists of three fighters from Monterrey, in which Julio Gamboa has done a titanic job to dignify Muaythai in our country.

On the other hand gilding the boxing landscape, the great champion Saúl Álvarez has just announced his plans; He signed three bouts with the PBC company, and it is speculated that his September fight will be against Jermall Charlo, the WBC middleweight champion, who would move up to super middleweight to challenge Canelo.

I love that fight, and also, it is more than fair, since Charlo has been waiting for the opportunity to face Canelo since 2018.
Jermall, a two-time super welterweight champion, is undefeated in 32 fights, with 22 knockouts, plus a style complemented plus reinforced by his powerful jab and precision punches.

The rivalry between Mexico and the US is of great historical value; some of the big battles are:

• Tommy Hearns knocked out Pipino Cuevas in two rounds, and snatched the welterweight title from him.
• Junior Jones knocked out Marco Antonio Barrera, and won the super bantamweight belt.
• Erik Morales avenged Barrera and knocked out Jones himself, in four rounds, in Tijuana.
• José Luis Castillo dished out the toughest fight to challenge and test Floyd Mayweather’s undefeated career.
• Floyd Mayweather dominated Canelo, and defeated Juan Manuel Márquez.
• Julio César Chávez knocked out Roger Mayweather in two rounds at the beginning of his career, but JC’s greatest feat was in his 66th fight against Meldrick Taylor, as he achieved a near miracle, and knocked him out with only two seconds left before the bell rang, and avoided losing the WBC title and his undefeated tally.

A few, as usual, are criticizing Canelo. What a shame and what a pity that embittered Mexicans continue this systematic attack of jealousy on Álvarez, when they could choose to be objective and recognize and cheer his sheer greatness! The sad thing is that social networks are punctuated and littered with a few isolated and negative comments, which seem to garner more notoriety than hundreds of thousands and even millions of positive ones. Sadly, such is human nature.

Canelo, congratulations and success in this new stage and venture of your career, with PBC!

We are very excited about the agreement that the World Boxing Council has just signed with the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, headed by Rosa Icela Rodríguez. During the signing I met the Secretary, and she made a great impression on me, by the way she expressed herself about my dad, which was touching. We talked about Ciudad Valles and the Huasteca Potosina.

Wonderful seeing her great commitment to Mexico, she encouraged us for the programs that will be launched together to take boxing to all corners of our country and meet the exacting objectives set.

In the first instance, it will be a training program for champions, with instructors teaching them to be boxing trainers, and thus multiply boxing.
Boxing is a sport that directly combats many of the sufferings of society: vices, addictions, the sloth of a sedentary lifestyle, crime, and it promotes physical activation, principles and values, which unites families.

Secondly, there will be a tour of the entire country with talks to prevent drug use, whose corrosive scourge haunts our society day after day, with: “I choose my future,”by Rocky Heron, and testimonies from Chávez, Zárate, Cuadras , Zamora and many more will guide and inspire the young and children of Mexico, steering them away from the lures, snares and traps of narcotics, in order to open their eyes to the dangers and horrors, by educated them, to keep them alert.

DID YOU KNOW…?

Last Tuesday we paid tribute to the great medicine man Doctor Horacio Ramírez Mercado, who was head and led medical services for more than 50 years, at the forefront of the Mexico City Boxing Commission. It was marvelous to be with The Doc, his son, his granddaughter and great-grandson, at Sport and Chips, where we celebrated our traditional Coffee Tuesday.

His traditional greeting of: “how are you, my friend?” His kind smile and thousands of fond memories of him were present on that magical morning.

TODAY’S ANECDOTE

Italy was a very important country for my dad. Founding nation of the WBC, with Piero Pini, his close friend and partner Mauro Betti, his loyal supporter. Given that it was made in the organization and has led the international championship for more than 30 years; the promoter Salvatore Cherchi, one of his closest friends, and Enza Jacoponi, who is still a member of the Governing Board. My dad’s passion was photography and it was right here in Venice where he took one of his favorites, a gondola looming over a bridge. On that trip, my mom was with him, they went to a dinner with a promoter, and the Italian sports minister, a very formal and elegant dinner. Suddenly, my mom saw my dad acting very strange, until she told him: “José, take it off! Do something!”.

Don José put his hand in his mouth and pulled out a very long strand of spaghetti, which he had stuck in his throat. He was embarrassed to do this, but he was choking… Later, at the hotel room, my dad told her, “Darling, did you see how the delicious spaghetti in tomato sauce was red, and when I took it out it was white?”, letting out a laugh…

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