Round 12 – Mauricio Sulaimán
By Mauricio Sulaimán – Son of José Sulaimán & WBC President
It is a great honor for me to be able to share, week after week, the activity of the World Boxing Council, topics of interest in our sport and anecdotes about my dear father, José Sulaimán.
2000 publications have just been completed by this daily newspaper “El Heraldo de Mexico” which hosts my weekly column, ROUND 12. Thank you very much to those who follow this column and I hope you like it.
So much happened last week. Destiny took me to London to witness a great boxing event where Tyson Fury defended his WBC heavyweight world championship against Dereck Chisora, in front of more than 60 thousand fans, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the same great venue which hosted the NFL game a couple of weeks ago.
The world has been following with great interest the FIFA World Cup. Qatar has been a great host and the organization has been reported as incredible in all aspects. Even though the Mexican team has been eliminated, the Mexican fans left a mark with their traditional celebrations making everyone to be a part of them and embracing fans from all over the world.
In boxing it was a highlight grandstand. Fury established himself once again by closing this 2022, with the sale of 160,000 tickets in his two massive fights, something impressive, with Wembley and Tottenham Stadium sold out. And in the Super Fly saga, the trilogy between the Mexican Juan Francisco Gallo Estrada and the Nicaraguan Román Chocolatito González turned out to be absolutely great once again. Now the 2-1 advantage in favour of the Aztec, in which his reign was solidified at super flyweight and even left the door open to a fourth contest between these two gladiators.
We are delighted by the great administration of the Arizona State boxing commission as they have supported The WBC and NABF initiatives in an exemplary manner. Instant Replay was accepted and ready to be used as Jay Nady was the monitor inspector in charge. They have also instituted the new scoring card which has been developed to optimize the judges concentration and accountability . The new scorecard reflects numeric scores as well as conceptual as the judge must register the level of domination of each round by marking how x fighter won the round ( C= close , M= Moderate, D= decisive ).
My dad used to tell us that boxing shows were like the Cinderella story. So many preparations for a long time to get to the dance, in this case to the fight, and suddenly everything vanishes at the stroke of midnight or the final bell of the fight. I believe that this story was told by Don King.
I arrived in England just the day of the press conference. Fury and Chisora faced off at Tottenham Stadium, a huge media contingency turned to cover the event, dozens of cameras, a lot of movement, interviews, great attention to everything that was happening. The hotel, full of people from the world of boxing. A great group from South Africa and other countries with undercard fighters, ring officials from the Philippines, Panama, France, Serbia and the entire UK community.
Oleksandr Usyk, the WBO-IBF-WBA world heavyweight champion, arrived to be present and warm up the possible next fight expected by the whole world, since it would be the first time that the heavyweight was unified in the era of the four belts.
We did a visit with WBC Cares to a group from Tottenham, called Gloves Up Knives Down. In this country there is a serious problem of violence and knife murders, since firearms practically do not exist on the streets. This club is dedicated to receive and welcome youngsters from four to 13 years old to train boxing, kickboxing and box fitness. The coaches become their guides and mentors, in the company of many parents, who share the afternoons with their children seeking a future with education and without violence. Geraldine Davies, Scott Welch and David Walker run WBC Cares UK, and they do a wonderful job. I had the opportunity to talk and mingle with a large number of young people and their families, we trained together and they all went home with a special gift to commemorate a very special day.
From there we went to a pub to eat something traditional from the country – fish and chips – and from there we arrived at the monumental stadium. The British fans are unique, they know how to celebrate and enjoy an event. One of the most iconic moments of a performance around here is when Sweet Caroline was sung, as everyone turns on the lights on their phones and sings it in a chorus that gives goosebumps. Fury came out, with his son Prince (named after the great fighter Prince Naseem Hamed) and his arrival in the ring was also with a great roar of music and fireworks.
Fury completely dominated a so brave Chisora until the referee wisely decided to stop the fight in the tenth round. The corner should have done it a couple of episodes before, because the challenger received a real beating, that is one of the concerns that exists when the boxer’s father is in the corner as the chief second.
Leaving the stadium was quite a long process. It took us 90 minutes to get back to the hotel, the lobby was one big party celebrating what was a memorable event. Eventually we escaped to go to sleep, and it wasn’t until the next morning that I woke up to realize that the big float had turned into a pumpkin. The quiet, deserted hotel, the empty and silent streets, there was no longer that great expectation, everything returned to normal, and that is how it is until the next event we must go to. The Cinderella story.
Did you know…?
Modern boxing was born in England, originally bare-knuckle fighting with basically no rules. Eventually it began to be regulated, most notably by the Marquis of Queensberry, hence the 'Queensberry Rules', and spread around the world and today it is one of the sports that has the highest standards and care for the participants.
Today’s anecdote
My dad enjoyed traveling to London, one of his favorite destinations. On many occasions he changed his flight itinerary to stop in this city on the way or back on any trip to Europe or Africa. This was mainly so that he could enjoy the delicious apple pie that would drive him crazy. On one of those trips that he was accompanied by his soul brother, Yamil Chade, they arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel, just to have dinner there and take the flight the next day.
Don José was on one of his numerous diets that he followed during his life and Yamil would take great care of him, helping him not to eat disorderly; as my dad ordered fish with vegetables, everything was going well until it was time for dessert.
My dad ordered his dream apple pie and when it arrived Yamil took it from him and told him there was no way he was going to let him break his diet, he snatched it from him and started eating it. My father, very angry, told him: “What’s wrong with you, Yamil? You can’t do this, this is just an exception, for God’s sake, leave me alone!” He asked for another pie and to his great regret the waiter told him that this was the last piece of the day, that it was over… My dad didn’t speak to Yamil for the rest of the trip!
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