By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán / President of the WBC
Sitting in the waiting room to begin my return home after a marathon and unforgettable December. I leave Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for Dubai, with a four-hour stopover to take a trip to my beloved Mexico, which will last 22 hours due to a stopover in Barcelona. I will be able to arrive on the 23rd at night to celebrate the long-awaited Christmas with my family.
I left on December 3rd, because we had our annual convention in Hamburg, I already told you last week how great it was, but the emotion, the memories and the multiple messages that I continue to receive keep alive the feeling of greatness that was achieved in Germany. Once again Id like to express my gratitude to Ismail Ozen, CEO of Universum, Ahmet Oener, and Malte Muller for the incredible effort to put the WBC annual convention together in Germany, to the WBC staff who worked tirelessly to attend every aspect, and the WBC members and guests which made this one of the best ever.
I arrived exhausted in Riyadh, but feeling the atmosphere that was generated by the long-awaited rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury made my tiredness disappear.
The vast majority of the world’s promoters were present, the four presidents of the organizations were present, and in just a few days, a series of events served to close with a flourish 2024, one of the most important years in the history of boxing.
A meeting was held between the aforementioned and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh to discuss the state of our sport and try to align everyone’s goals in the search for unity and cooperation for development at a global level.
The Riyadh Season WBC Grand Prix was ratified, which will carry out five boxing cards in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia during 2025. A total of 128 boxers, 32 in each of the four divisions (featherweight, super lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight) in a type of world cup for rising boxers to be the next figures of the future. This was one of the latest dreams of my dear father, Jose Sulaiman, and now is a reality.
The new era of The Ring magazine was officially launched, which was acquired by a group from this region under the renewed vision and leadership of HE Turki Alalshikh, which seeks to position it with the popularity of yesteryear. The Ring carries the history of our sport, as The Ring Record book, which for decades carried the history of all fighters’ activity, and the magazine bringing entertainment and knowledge to fans worldwide even before radio, television, fax, internet, and social media. It was a spectacular gala with the presence of figures such as Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Cuba Gooding Jr., Neymar Jr., Oscar de la Hoya, Roberto Durán, and countless more personalities.
The press conference was short, but the face-to-face was spectacular. Something never seen before happened, Usyk and Fury did it, and it lasted 14 minutes! High tension, one looking at the other and vice versa, and after several attempts to separate them without taking a step back, Fury exploded with verbal attacks that generated pushing and shoving and the need to push them back with the help of their teams.
The weigh-in gave a surprising figure and led everyone to speculate. Fury weighed 281 pounds, and Usyk 227, a difference of 54 pounds.
The day of the fight at the Kingdom Arena arrived, with a spectacular production and a long undercard lineup. An unbelievable drumming performance of the legendary boxing song, Eye of the Tiger, followed by the traditional Sweet Caroline song, came the anthems and the fighters’ exit to the ring.
The bell rang and the world was watching with high expectations after a brutal classic back in May. The fight was extremely close. It was highly technical battle of few strategic punches, defense, ring generalship and a few explosive exchanges. Most rounds were razor-thin close. Fury would dominate the actions, but then Usyk came back with strong combinations. The judges awarded a unanimous decision with the old saying, “To beat the champion you have to convince and leave no doubt.”
Usyk has established himself as the executioner of the British. He knocked out Tony Bellew. He dethroned and beat Anthony Joshua in a rematch. He defeated Daniel Dubois and beat Fury twice. These facts place Usyk within a very select list of the best pound-for-pound, and he closed a wonderful year for Ukraine in terms of boxing, to give joy to a people hurt by an invasion that is about to turn three years old. The World Boxing Council on behalf of all boxers and promoters has donated this year $250,000 through the Holy Father Francis, precisely to help children in that country.
Did you know that…?
In 1980, world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes traveled to Mexico with Don King for the WBC world convention.
The undefeated giant, Gerry Cooney, who was known as The Great White Hope, showed up.
To everyone’s surprise, the boxers got into a scuffle in the lobby of the Aristos Hotel in the Zona Rosa, and a scandal broke out. Therefore, Don José immediately stepped in to try to separate them. But suddenly, a right hook from Cooney crossed him just as he was getting in between the two. He didn’t fall to the canvas and there was no eight-count, but he did confess to us that he saw stars for a couple of days.
Today’s anecdote
Christmas has arrived, the most beautiful time of the year, a time that for our Sulaimán Saldívar family has always been more than special.
My parents always tried to make it magical. As children, it was showering us with gifts and delicious dinners always prepared by my mother. Then Lucy and Claudia helped out, and Pepe’s marshmellow salad, my brother’s classic, and the late nights of all the friends of the six children who came to celebrate until the light of the sun came up. What never failed, until Don José’s last Christmas, was the story of Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men.
First he told it to us children, then to children and grandchildren, and it was always as if it were the first time we heard it. The story says that in reality, there were four Wise Men traveling to greet the new born following the star of Belem. During the journey, one of the four decided to stay and help the so many along the way. It turns out that the fourth was Santa Claus, who until this day continues to show in every single home to bring happiness, hope and joy to the children of the world.
May this Christmas be enlightened by the presence of Santa, the warmth and love of God in the company of your families and loved ones to prepare for 2025 which will certainly be the best year of our lives.
