Punching for greed, not honour and pride

WBC president Jose Sulaiman says that the sport is now only about the money

MEXICO CITY: Greed has replaced pride and honour in boxing, says Jose Sulaiman, the long-serving president of World Boxing Council (WBC).

“Today promoters, managers and boxers only want money, money, money. Years ago it was for the pride, glory and the honour,” Sulaiman said. “Back then there were thousands of professional boxers,” he said. “Today there are hundreds. The technique is better today. But the heart, mental attitude and strength of the fighters was far superior then.”

Few people are better qualified to have such an overview.  Sulaiman has been in boxing since 1941 when, as a 10-year-old, he laced up some gloves for a warm-up bout before the headliners waded in under the bright lights.

After such fights, he collected a meagre sprinkling of pesos thrown into the ring by cheering punters, still competing against his rival on the other side of the ring to scoop up the most.

Sulaiman has been president of the WBC since 1975. He recently called on the board of governors to decide his future by giving him a unanimous vote of confidence at the annual convention, due to be held in October in China.

Just one dissenting vote, he said, would be the signal for him to hang up his gloves after more than sixty years in the sport.

Now 76, Sulaiman has devoted time to making boxing a safer sport than the more savage version he first encountered. The WBC pioneered reducing championship bouts from 15 to 12 rounds and holding weigh-ins 24 hours before the opening bell instead of the same day to allow contestants to re-hydrate and eat.

So he views the growth of no-holds-barred mixed martial arts with particular distaste. “The Roman circus was barbaric and this is barbaric,” he said. “It’s like two animals trying to kill each other. In Mexico it has not happened and I’m fighting for that not to happen.”