THE 12TH ROUND: 2016 COMES TO AN END, WELCOME 2017!

By Mauricio Sulaiman
WBC President – Jose Sulaiman’s son

As we all try to slow down to enjoy a few quiet moments in the company of our loved ones, thinking about what happened this year and planning on what we wish to do for 2017, it is a great opportunity to simply meditate and reflect on our own actions and what can we personally do to make the difference in our lives and the lives of others. It is so common that we get lost in the day to day pressures, deadlines, worries, excessive work, travel and eternal use of the cell phone. We often forget to look at today, to realize what we have, who is next to us, how fortunate we are to have health, to be alive, to have our loved ones close. We forget to appreciate and cherish what is there, available at hindsight our reflections can only give us memories, those that build over the weeks, months and years and one we look back and understand that we let those precious times go by without knowing it.

I read a few articles about the state of boxing and was shocked to read some idiotic remarks stating that “Boxing is dying,” mostly claiming that pay-per-view was down and probably out. For all those who have such a limited vision of the sport, there are some incredible facts that prove how great boxing is and what transpired in 2016 has set the tone for a memorable 2017:

* GGG vs Brook sell out O2 Arena in London while Chocolatito and Cuadras sell out the Forum in Los Angeles simultaneously!
* Canelo Alvarez draws 50,000+ plus fans at the AT&T Dallas Cowboys Stadium!
* Several fights compete head to head for the Fight of the year honors!
* The Heavyweight division is back to the world interest!
* Female Boxing finally makes an impact in USA!
* Pope Francis creates BoxVal a world program under his Scholas Ocurrentes Foundation!
* Amateur boxing finds and alternative after the disaster and failure of AIBA and the Olympic games competition!
* Boxing in UK flourishes like it was decades ago!
* The world of boxing unites during the sensational WBC Annual Convention with a memorable homage to Ali in the presence of so many heroes from the past, today and tomorrow!
* Japan closes the year with 8 championship fights for new years celebration!

2017 starts with a BANG! –

* January 14 WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack will unify with IBF champion James DeGale.
* January 28 will feature sensational cards in Las Vegas as Richard Schaefer returns to action with an incredible doubleheader with Mickey Garcia trying to conquer the WBC lightweight title from champion Dejan Zlaticanin and Leo Santacruz tries to avenge his only loss in the highly anticipated rematch against Carl Frampton in a fight where the WBC Diamond belt will be awarded to the winner.
* January 28 Golden Boy Promotions will also feature a tremendous card, a quadrangular In Los Angeles as WBC super featherweight champion Francisco Vargas who has won the honors of “fight of the year” in 2015 and 2016 battles Mexican rival Miguel Berchelt and former champion Takashi Miura fights Micky Roman with the winners of both bouts to meet during the summer.
* Also January 28 will have the pound for pound queen of Women´s boxing Cecilia Braekhus defending her WBC mandatory vs Klara Svenson in a corporation of K2 and Sauerland Event in Norway.

* February will see the return of WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.
* Cancun Boxing will present the first ever card in paradise-like Cancun opening the first full established Casino.

* March will feature the dream match, unification bout between WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia vs WBA champion Keith Thurman, 2 undefeated champions looking for supremacy.
* March 18 will see a sold out Madison Square Garden as GGG Golovkin defends vs Jacobs and Chocolatito most likely will fight the highly anticipated rematch vs Carlos Cuadras.

* Joshua and Klishtko have sold over 60,000 tickets!!!!

So many other fights are being processed, 2017 will prove to be a great year for boxing and will show all those “grinches” that our sport is unique and will continue to grow all over the world.

The WBC has top priorities which are aligned with all these facts:

– Continue the Clean Boxing Program around the world.
– Continue to develop Women´s boxing and have them conquer the American market.
– Continue the WBC Amateur program to be a platform to all those regions and programs which have been abandoned by AIBA and the national federations of the world.
– Continue the medical research program with UCLA and implement pilot programs to make boxing safer for the fighters.
– Continue to mediate with all parties to try to make the best fights possible and give the fans what they deserve.
– Continue BoxVal and implement programs worldwide, like the highly successful 2N1D – 2 Nations 1 Dream – Boxing without borders implemented in 2016 in Chicago, Acapulco and Mexico City.
– WBC licensing and merchandising program will make a statement!

As 2016 settles into the history books and we all gear up for 2017, I want to express my deepest gratitude to my beloved wife Christiane as she has been my partner and has taken care of the so many difficult tasks that a family must face. My mother for her unconditional support with her sweet smile and always wise and comforting advice. My brother Hector who has taken the lead of the family running our family business and factory with my sisters Lucy and Claudia, my brother Fernando who has been there to support many of the programs that we have launched in this process and my “boss” Pepe who runs the WBC Los Angeles office, getting to experience the lives of the boxers and making so many friends in the world of boxing. This is my beautiful family, all together in harmony to celebrate Christmas.

To my heroes, the WBC champions of the world!

Deontay Wilder, Tony Bellew, Adonis Stevenson, Badou Jack, Gennady Golovkin, Jermell Charlo, Danny Garcia, Terrence Crawford, Jorge Linares, Dejan Zlaticanin, Francisco Vargas, Gary Russell, Oscar Escandon, Shinsuke Yamanaka, Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez, Ganigan Lopez and Menayothin!

May God bless you all and may 2017 be a formidable year, long live Boxing, Long Live the WBC!

Thank you and I welcome any comments, ideas or suggestions at contact@wbcboxing.com