10 history-changing contributions of Don José Sulaiman
In the more than 38 years that José Sulaimán led the World Boxing Council, the Mexican leader accomplished crucial actions to change and better boxing, and today we remember 10 of them.
1. He reduced the world championship bouts from 15 to 12 rounds, a measure that was endorsed by the WBC Board of Governors, which has resulted in fewer misfortunes for fighters.
2. The weigh-in 24 hours before the fight. This initiative by Don José benefited those who entered the ring without sufficient recovery time when they weighed themselves on the same day of the match, which also caused a significant number of fatal accidents.
3. Don Jose created with the endorsement of the World Boxing Council, intermediate divisions, with which the number of champions and opportunities for boxers grew, in addition to avoiding the extreme sacrifice of the fighters when marking the weight.
4. Encouraged glove manufacturers to fuse the thumb to the rest of the glove, a situation that prevented accidents with their thumbs open.
5. In order to avoid more injustices, he worked with multiple boxing commissions to apply the use of instant replay, which avoids controversial and sometimes incorrect decisions in fights.
6. He was the promoter of the open score that announces the cards after four and eight rounds, giving a different significance to a fight, so fighters know where they stand.
7. Don Jose created with the support of Jill Diamond, the WBC Cares program, in which sports figures dedicate themselves to visiting children in hospitals, carrying a message of love, hope and inspiration.
8. With the help of important businessmen, he managed to gain scholarships for Mexican boxing legends.
9. He created the “José Sulaimán Fund” with a fundraiser to offer sustenance and support to boxers and ex-boxers from all over the world who are going through hard times.
10. Don Jose created a Medical Committee, whose main base is at UCLA (University of California), where resources were allocated to the development of research programs for the good of boxers.
These vital changes transformed the face of Boxing, making it safer, fairer and better.
