Mauricio Sulaiman (Mexico City, December 30, 1969) is the president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), which awards the coveted emerald green world champion belt. The leader traveled through Spain to finalize an agreement with the Emporio boxing gym in Madrid, which will become the WBC’s main European base.
ask What was your association with Emporio Boxing that brought you to Spain?
Answer Boxing is a very important sport worldwide and Spain was part of the birth of this organization. It is the founding country of the WBC and great executives form part of our Governing Council. The country has now won two, and more, world champions, but deserves more Olympic medals. There is a lot of talent and fans here, and a reboot is needed to bring back television and a larger number of fans. Emporio passionately supports boxing by providing many resources and that is why we want to be based here. We want a high-performance center that can be used to prepare champions, challengers or prospects, and here we have it all, including accommodation. We are not just talking about preparations for combat in Europe. It is a medium and long term programme. We didn’t come to take a photo, we wanted to see the fruits over time.
Q. The main man we have now in Spain is Sandor Martin, who will soon fight for the WBC world title.
R. Sandor is a phenomenon. He became World Council Youth Champion and later European Champion. Then he matched up with one of the best fighters in recent years like Mike Garcia and he beat him. He was then assigned to fight one of the current champions, a very tough Teofimo Lopez. He knocked him down twice and lost by a very controversial decision. That is why the WBC put Sander at the top of the lists and today he is the official challenger, that is, the one who will challenge the champion Alberto Puello for the title. Sandor has all the potential to reach the heights, he has everything to be a world champion. He is a disciplined young man, a pure young man, a dreamer who deserves a chance.
Sandor has all the potential to reach the heights, he has everything to be a world champion. He is a disciplined young man, a pure young man, a dreamer who deserves a chance
Q. That fight doesn’t have a date yet, right?
R. I understand there will be a fight in December. The promotion issue needs to be adjusted, but they have already come to an agreement. Only the place and date are missing. I got a call yesterday and they told me it will be in December.
There is a new guy in world boxing named Turki Alalshikh who is investing money to make big fights. Is your intervention positive?
R. We support everything that is good and favorable to boxing. Last year we did not have a promotion wave like never before. It all started with Fury on a dream card, against UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, when he was the council champion. Riyadh has become a Disneyland for anyone who loves boxing. (…) Suddenly a whole generation fought on Riyadh season cards in Saudi Arabia, Wembley or Los Angeles. Many battles were fought due to the intervention of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. And now comes the Berterbiev fight against Bivol and Fury and Usyk’s rematch. Those are very important fights and cards for boxing, but let’s hope there’s continuity, because if it ends it leaves a void. Boxers who are already paid are reluctant to return to a lower purse level. The great success now is that Saudi also sees opportunities, because promoting great champions is something anyone can do, but promoting future champions is important.
The great achievement now is that Saudi also sees opportunities, because promoting great champions is something anyone can do
Q .. that’s the thing to miss.
R. A series of proposals have already been developed in this sense and it is important to support them. Imagine a champion born in Arabia comes out… we are not talking about someone with roots like Naseem Hamed born in United Kingdom, but from Arabia. There he is older than Mike Tyson.
Sandor Martin, Mauricio Sulaiman and Fernando Sanchez at the Emporio boxing gym in Madrid.
Emporio Boxing, WBC High Performance Center
Businessman Fernando Sánchez explained Emporio Boxing’s association with the most famous organization in boxing: “What we want is to create a high-performance center that will serve as a base for managers, promoters, managers, trainers… They are going to train. (WBC University) on everything around boxing and Work is underway to organize clinics with great boxing legends, with the help of the WBC, which will also give more visibility to Spanish boxers.
Q. Your Excellency spoke of a kind of Super League. Is this possible in boxing?
R. Anything is possible, but you have to remember that boxing is a very different sport. There is no league that interferes in the business like baseball, soccer, golf, American football… There the league is the promoter and controls the business with television contracts, sponsorships or franchise sales, but here in boxing, for example, one league becomes the WBC and we have nothing to do with the direction of the business. No. There is a conflict of interest as we cannot be an organization and a promoter at the same time. For example, in MMA you can do it and that’s why the UFC controls everything, but in boxing it’s not allowed. The sport is not organized by league structures, it is open, but it has different levels.
Boxing doesn’t have leagues like MMA, the sport is open, but it has different levels
Q. There are more MMA fighters who want to move up to boxing, as happened with Nagano. How do they rank them?
R. It has always been in the WBC. One of the criteria for ranking is activity in amateur boxing or other combat sports. We have ranked many boxers from Muay Thai who have decided to go international. Ngannou was ranked when he fought the champion and knocked him out, although he lost by split decision. The pay is much higher in boxing than in MMA, but so is the level of competition.
The pay is much higher in boxing than in MMA, but so is the level of competition.
Q. Is Boxing Growing or Staggering?
R. We have a stable fan base, but we need to do a better job with the youth. You have to go towards the younger fans because they now have many entertainment options including other sports. You need to reach out to younger fans in every possible way.
Q. Here in Spain there is a boom in MMA thanks to Ilia Topuria. Need a star?
R. Sandor Martin becomes a superstar when he is crowned. But if we analyze, we have very high-level champions in many countries and I think it will be a great moment for boxing. As I said earlier, we need to know how to reach the fans and the problem is that promoters work as individuals, not as an industry.
Sandor Martin becomes a superstar when he is crowned
Q. In recent years we have seen more consolidations and more undisputed champions. It helps to at least make good fights.
R. The WBC always promotes unifications and undisputed champions. Not long ago the four were controversial but, due to the problems of each organization, it probably won’t hold up over time. However, being the absolute champion is forever.
Q. They don’t agree that women’s fights should be 3 minutes and 12 rounds as some boxers in the WBC want.
R. Absolutely not, not categorically, until a scientific study comes along that shows us what solid data is today. Today these studies tell us that women are at greater risk than men of harm. It’s not sexism, it’s not discrimination, we don’t overcome a medical problem. There are many factors that interfere from bones, muscle mass, testosterone, the uterus… there is evidence that women have 80% more concussions than men. In 1978 the WBC changed from 15 to 12 rounds and the weigh-ins for the day before the fight were also changed based on studies. The goal of 10×2 is to limit dehydration, fatigue, and tomorrow they’ll be fine, and today they’ll all retire in good shape. We’re not going to change until we have solid data because we’re here to protect. The 12×3 movement is already dead. Amanda Serrano is again fighting two minutes away. Their 12×3 fight went to a decision and was boring.
Our disapproval of 12×3 women’s struggles is not a question of sexism, it’s not discrimination, it’s a medical issue.
The President of the World Boxing Council, visited Spain and reviewed current events in boxing at MARCA.
Q. Do you think we’re going to see a Canelo vs. Crawford fight?
R. This is a talked about fight. Canelo is the face of the boxing world and Crawford is the greatest champion. Canelo is constantly criticized for making weight or fighting lower division boxers. This is the fight that Sheikh Turki Turki Alalshikh wants to see and is trying to promote. They are both great fighters and Canelo has the weight advantage. In my opinion, I don’t think it will happen, but if it does, Canelo will have a huge advantage over Crawford.
In my opinion, I don’t think the Canelo vs. Crawford fight will happen, but if it does, Canelo will have a huge advantage.
P. against Benavidez. Canelo doesn’t seem so clear anymore.
R. It’s a very interesting fight that people want to see. Big fights take time. It’s been years since we saw ‘Macho’ Camacho against Chavez and Pacquiao against Mayweather. Now we live in the moment and we don’t give time to these cycles. It would be a great fight if it happens, Benavidez has already moved up a division and Canelo is very comfortable at super middleweight, but we’ll see what happens in 2025 or 2026.
Q. Have you heard from Ryan Garcia lately?
R. Ryan was a terrible tragedy. A boy suffering from mental problems for many years. While he was champion in the World Council, he was given a leave of absence due to a fall and being out of the ring for a year. We supported him unconditionally. When the problem started before Honey’s fight we did everything possible to treat him, it wasn’t possible, he didn’t gain weight and he tested positive. It’s sad because he’s a good boy, a good fighter, but everything that’s happened this year has buried him. We haven’t heard from him in two months, which is good because maybe he’s paying attention like we hoped.
