Next year’s most sensational boxing event was announced during the Wednesday morning general assembly meeting at the World Boxing Council’s 47th annual convention – “Night of Champions” is scheduled to be held in Cardiff, Wales, in November, 2010. The first Night of Champions – Noche de Campeones – was held in December, 2006, in Cancun three months after Hurricane Wilma had destroyed much of the Mexican resort. The incredible event, which brought together 97 current and former world champions – the largest gathering of world champions in history – played a big part in revitalizing Cancun..
WBC President Dr. José Sulaimán said, “For the WBC to celebrate the second Night of Champions in Cardiff, Wales, will be something to remember for the rest of our lives. We expect to have more world champions than we did in Cancun. We have been working for at least two years on this Night of Champions in Wales – we have had an important committee working very hard on it.
“With Great Britain being the birthplace of modern boxing 300 years ago, I believe that this is the place to have it. We can have all the champions coming from Europe and Africa, with many, many coming from America and Asia, and I think it will be a fantastic reunion. The first Night of Champions made a huge difference to the city of Cancun because it opened the eyes of the world to let them know that Cancun was living again. With all those great heroes there, everybody said, ‘It’s ready, let’s go.’ Two weeks later, the hotel rooms in Cancun were totally sold out. It will be fantastic. The WBC will work very, very hard to make it a great success.”
WBC Merchandise Vice Chairman David Walker of England is part of the organizing committee. He said, “With a major sporting event where you get an awards ceremony, we believed, when speaking to Don Jose Sulaiman and Charlie Giles, that it wasn’t good enough just to bring all these great champions there, pat each other on the back, and help the economy of Cardiff. There has to be a legacy, just like there was a legacy in Cancun in letting the world know that Cancun was back in business and helping the local economy. We wanted to create a legacy.
“Now, Wales is a small country with a population of two and half, three million, but disproportionately, it produces some of the greatest champions in the world. You could argue that Jimmy Wilde was the greatest flyweight that ever existed, and you could argue that Joe Calzaghe was the greatest super middleweight that ever existed. What small country in the world can claim two pound-for-pounders?
“And in amateur boxing, for example, in the last 16 months in international competition, boys and girls, men and women, they produced 39 gold medals. It’s phenomenal. They really do punch above their weight. And Cardiff is the headquarters of the British Boxing Board of Control, so when we wanted to put it in the home of modern boxing, as President Sulaiman said, we wanted it where it would have the most impact, and boxing is very deeply ingrained in the culture.
“Just like in Cancun, where it was tailored to what the Mexican needed, we wanted to tailor it to, and work with, the Welsh official powers – the city, and the Welsh Assembly – in making sure that we did the things that benefit Wales, the Welsh people, so that they would feel ownership and really get behind the event.
“It’s going to be tied in with a pre-Olympic tournament called ‘Road to the Olympics.’ There’s never been an Olympic tournament in Wales. It will be Team Great Britain hopefuls versus the rest of the world. Can you imagine 104 current or former world champions sitting down and inspiring these kids? It goes without saying – everyone who attends it, all the athletes there are going to be inspired, and all the young kids who watch it are going to be inspired. Boxing will be exposed to a much wider audience of people.”
Much of the rest of the day was spent on mandatory world title defenses.
Heavyweight world champion Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine is scheduled to make a voluntary title defense on December 12 against No. 5 ranked Kevin Johnson of the United States. A final elimination bout between No. 1 ranked Ray Austin of the U.S. and No. 2 ranked Oleg Maskaev of the U.S./Kazakhstan must be held by May, 2010, to determine the next mandatory challenger.
Cruiserweight world champion Giacobbe Fragomeni of Italy is scheduled to make a voluntary title defense on November 21 against No. 4 ranked Zsolt Erdei of Hungary. No. 1 ranked Krzystof Wlodarczyk of Poland requested a rematch of his 12 round draw against Fragomeni in May, 2009, against Fragomeni, and it was approved as Fragomeni’s next fight. The winner of the fight must make a mandatory title defense against No. 2 ranked Herbie Hide of England.
Light heavyweight world champion Jean Pascal of Haiti/Canada is scheduled to make a voluntary title defense in the rematch on December 11 against Adrian Diaconu of Romania/Canada. Former WBC world champion Chad Dawson and Glen Johnson will fight for the interim title on November 7. The winner of the Pascal-Diaconu fight is committed to make his mandatory title defense within 90 to 120 days against the winner of Dawson-Johnson.
During today’s general assembly meeting, No. 3 ranked super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell of the U.S. requested a rematch of his split decision loss in October against super middleweight world champion Carl Froch of England. The WBC is a strong supporter of Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament, in which both Dirrell and Froch are participants. If the rematch could be scheduled without interfering with the tournament, it will be approved. If it cannot, then Dirrell will become the mandatory challenger after the tournament has finished
The status of middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik of the U.S. and interim Sebastian Zbik of Germany will be discussed in tomorrow’s meeting.
Super welterweight world champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina/U.S. requested approval for a nontitle fight at 160 pounds against Paul Williams of the U.S. Williams had been preparing to challenge middleweight world champion Pavlik on December 5, but Pavlik withdrew from the fight due to an injury, and Williams did not want to change his preparation to fight at the lower weight limit. Martinez’ request was approved. His mandatory defense will be determined at a later date.
Welterweight world champion Andre Berto of the U.S. requested approval for a voluntary title defense on January 30 against WBA champion Shane Mosley of the U.S. The request was approved on the condition that Mosley publicly apologize to the WBC for abandoning the WBC title to challenge Antonio Margarito for the WBA title in January, 2009. No. 2 ranked Luis Collazo of the U.S. was ordered to fight No. 3 ranked WBC International champion Selcuk Aydin of Turkey for the interim world title, with the winner to be the mandatory challenger.
In the super lightweight division, world champion Devon Alexander of the U.S. is free to make a voluntary title defense. The final elimination bout to determine the mandatory challenger between No. 2 ranked Jo Jo Dan (Ionut Dan Ion) of Romania and No. 3 ranked Ajose Olusegun of Nigeria was cancelled when the promoter of the fight defaulted. A tournament was proposed between either the top four or top six contenders to determine the mandatory challenger, which will be discussed at tomorrow’s general assembly meeting.
Lightweight world champion Edwin Valero of Venezuela is scheduled to make a voluntary title defense on December 19 against No. 14 ranked Hector Velazquez of Mexico. The winner must next make his mandatory title defense against interim champion Antonio De Marco of Mexico.
Super featherweight world champion Humberto Soto of Mexico is scheduled to make a voluntary title defense on December 5 against an opponent to be determined, and has announced that he will vacate the title to move up in weight after the fight. Interim champion Humberto Gutierrez of Mexico will defend the title against No. 5 ranked Vitaly Tajbert of Germany. When Soto vacates the title the winner of the interim title fight will become undisputed WBC world champion.
Featherweight world champion Elio Rojas of the Dominican Republic is in a voluntary stage. A proposal was approved to organize a tournament of the top six contenders to determine the mandatory challenger.
Super bantamweight world champion Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan is in a voluntary stage.
Bantamweight world champion Hozumi Hasegawa of Japan is scheduled to make a voluntary title defense on December 18, and has stated that he might vacate the title to move in weight after that. A final elimination bout to determine the mandatory challenger was approved between No. 1 ranked Simpiwe Vetyeka of South Africa and No. 2 ranked Abner Mares of Mexico, with the free negotiation period to begin tomorrow. If Hasegawa vacates the title after his next defense, the Simpewe-Mares fight has been approved for the vacant title.
Super flyweight world champion Vic Darchinyan of Australia is scheduled to make his mandatory title defense against interim champion Tomas Rojas of Mexico on December 12.
Flyweight world champion Daisuke Naito of Japan is scheduled to make a voluntary defense on November 29 against No. 3 ranked Koki Kameda of Japan, with the winner to make his mandatory defense against interim champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand. All three fighters involved in those two fights have said that they are willing to fight current light flyweight world champion Sosa if he moves up in weight.
Light flyweight world champion Edgar Sosa of Mexico is scheduled to make a voluntary title defense – his 11th overall – on November 21 against No. 7 ranked Rodel Mayol of Philippines, and has said that he might vacate the title to move up in weight after the fight. If he does vacate the title, No. 1 ranked Omar Nino of Mexico will fight the highest available challenger for the title, with the winner to be obligated to two mandatory defenses.
Strawweight world champion Oleydong Sithsanerchai of Thailand is scheduled to make his mandatory title defense on November 27 against interim champion Juan Palacios of Nicaragua.
The WBC’s 48th annual convention in 2010 is confirmed to be held in Mexico, but the city has not been determined yet. Mexico City, Cancun, and Puerto Vallarta are among those being considered.
WORLD BOXING COUNCIL NEWS
November 5, 2009 – Jeju, Republic of Korea
The WBC’s 47th annual convention closed a day earlier than scheduled today in Jeju. WBC President Dr. José Sulaimán said that the change in plans was made to accommodate requests from several members of the Board of Governors who had conflicting travel plans.
In his closing speech – which was cut short when he was overcome by emotion at the remembrance of friends who had passed away – President Sulaiman said, “It is time for me to close the 47th annual convention. Mr. Kashiba just mentioned something that is very important for me. AIBA brought a new system of scoring. I think that it was good to be tried and presented, but the results are that amateur boxing is lost. Amateurs boxers coming up are lost. It is not as it used to be before. We are sick and tired of the misinterpretation of coaches and boxers to ‘stick and run.’ That is not boxing. The amateur tournament that we are going to start will be with the professional boxing people – the professional boxing trainers that have the high technology that boxing is today. I love boxing, but I just cannot continue seeing amateur boxing the way it is today. So we must change the goal of the WBC and we must change the path of boxing. We cannot leave it in the hands of politicians. We have to bring it to people who really know boxing, and that will be one of the strongest and most determined programs of the WBC for the future.
“Every time that I come to the convention, I say that I am very tired. This convention was, physically, not the best for me. But every face that I see, every person that I meet, every world that I hear gives me a new enthusiasm to continue my life in the sport of boxing. You make the conventions. Without you, there would be no WBC. Without you, nothing I would think could ever take effect. So my heart, today, as I have always done, I give it to every single member of the people that are sitting at the main tables, because they are the leaders of the sport of boxing of the world. It’s them who accomplish our programs. It’s them who fight, who suffer, who receive attacks and counter with all that they have for the good of the sport that we love.
“And to all of you – you are boxing people. You are the people that make boxing and, believe me, the few years that God might still give me to live, after losing my dear friends … I’m sorry … thank you.
“On November the 5th, I declare officially closed the 47th convention of the WBC and I’m looking forward to see you during the coming year at the next convention. Thank you.”
The official attendance of the convention was 597. 547 people travelled to Jeju from other countries, and 50 came from Korea. The Ramada Plaza Jeju, the host hotel, was booked to capacity and attendants also stayed at two other hotels. 104 ring officials attended the convention, the highest ever. 39 promoters, from 20 different countries, were in attendance, as well.
Also on the convention’s closing day:
$10,000 was raised to aid in the flood relief effort in the Philippines by the sale of WBC keychains and teeshirts, and personal donations from Arena-Box Promotion and WBC members. President Sulaiman added a personal donation of $5,000 for a total of $15,000. The money will be distributed to those in need by Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation Vice President Eric Buhain of the Philippines. Mr. Buhain said, “Don Jose, thank you for leading this drive. Thank you very much. What I will do when I get back is to coordinate with the Department of Social Welfare and Development to do what the WBC always does with the WBC World Boxing Cares program of Jill Diamond – invite some of our Filipino champions and go to the kids who were devastated by the floods. And prior to delivering all the goods to the kids, report to you what is going to be needed and what this money, coming from your hearts, will be used for so that you will know. And after the event, I will report back on the names of the kids, the children, and the places where they are right now. So, thank you, thank you – thank you so much.”
Regarding WBC World Boxing Cares, Jill Diamond of the United States said, “I don’t really have a report. Really, what I have is the extension of gratitude for everybody here who has given of their time and their generosity to be a part of this program. I think we’re the only organization that reaches out globally in the way that we do, with little publicity, very little money donated by the WBC, the Reyes family, and Mr. Sulaiman himself, who out of pocket helps us bring little toys and gifts to the children that we visit. Another thing that I don’t know if you all realize is that when athletes go to visit, or put their name behind organizations, they always charge. Our athletes give of their hearts and their times and the only thing that they’ve ever asked for is, perhaps, transportation to get somewhere. But our athletes come and they embrace the children and they teach them not only how to inspire them, because most of them come from poor circumstances, but that gyms are safe places, that they’re havens, that boxing is one avenue out. One thing that I would ask is that, in addition to your time, if you feel comfortable to donate toys or a small amount on money or anything that can help us with sponsorships, because we’re doing this all over the world, and we’re doing this really out of pocket and on our own. That would be very, very helpful.
“But mostly, this has been an amazing experience. I feel very priviledged to be a part of the World Boxing Council, to be a part of a group of people that would give so much and so often, without any return other than the feeling that they have inside. We’ve done this for what – three years? – and it’s grown amazingly. We’ve had over a hundred visits all over the world, from Thailand, we’re helping to build a shelter in Guyana with the help of Peter [Abdool] and Roy [Van Putten]. It’s an unbelievable outreach. We’ve reached across oceans, over mountains, and we have inspired, even if it’s only for one moment, to distract people from circumstancees that are beyond our control and give them some love and some hugs and some inspiration. So, thank you all for your participation. Thank you, Jose, for allowing us to do this and giving so much of your own money and time and effort for World Boxing Cares. WBC World Boxing Cares is something that we can all be very proud of. Thank you.”
After a DVD of WBC World Boxing Cares was shown to the assembly, Jill said, “We’ve all done this together. World Boxing Cares is every person in this room, and we’ve done this basically with no money, just with donations from people. This video, this little DVD contains a lot of your favorite boxers, and some of you are on it. They’re going to have these at the front desk if anybody wants to buy one. It will help getting the teeshirts and the little gloves and the things that we give the kids. It’s pure, tangible recognition of something that all of you in this room have contributed to.” President Sulaiman commented, “Having the feeling in my heart every time that I saw those children, and one of them being very sick, not even able to smile, smiling. Or not even able to raise their hand, and raised their hands to wave, or close their fist, or put on a boxing glove. That is to me, one of the biggest prizes that my I can obtain in my passing through life, believe me. Whenever we take a champion, you cannot imagine the meaning of their presence to all the little kids.”
The WBC World Medical Advisory Board report was given by Dr. Mario Sturla of Italy that will be posted soon on wbcboxing.com. After the report, President Sulaiman said, “From his report, I would like to make several recommendations to the Board. The first recommendation would be that we put in our championship rules that a doctor, an official medical representative, will be appointed for the training of all champions and challengers. Today, we don’t know what happens in the gym, we don’t know what happens during jogging, nothing. And we have found during investigations of the past that many of the problems have happened during the training period and in the gymnasium. So I kindly ask you, one of my colleagues, to please make a motion that one doctor must be mandatorily appointed for every one of the champions and challengers to work during the whole training period. The second thing that came to my mind during Dr. Sturla’s report is that we must go back and work, so that in every country there should be a national medical committee for boxing. Even in Mexico, that is so, so strong in boxing, we do have a national boxing federation; we do not have a national medical committee. Thailand, for example, is one country that desperately needs one. Another one is Indonesia, and many, many other countries of the world. I think that starting from my own country, Mexico, we need to have a national boxing medical association. My third thought that came with his report is to decide to hold a World Medical Congress every five years because the first congress was held in Aruba, and the second was held 10 years later in Mexico. So I think that we should go every five years. My last recommendation is that the report read by Dr. Sturla has some scientific recommendations that we don’t understand very well, and that he can give it to us so we will publish it on the internet and everywhere we can throughout the world. ”
OPBF President Tsuyoshi Yasukochi of Japan was appointed as the head ot fhe committee to investigate accidents in the ring. OPBF Vice President Eric Buhain of the Philippines and Asian Boxing Council Secretary Patrick Cusick of Thailand volunteered to join the committee. Mr. Cusick also gave his report on the WBC Muay Thai Championships.
Several other issues were addressed, and several committee reports were given. After WBC Ring Officials Board Chairman Hubert Minn of the United States gave his report on the judges seminar conducted by himself, and and the referees seminar conducted by Ring Officials Board Secretary Bruce McTavish of the Philippines, President Sulaiman commented, “I think Hubert if one of the committee chairman that always does more than we expect.”
Luis Escalona of the United States, Chairman of the Safety Committee, gave his report on the compliance of promoters with the WBC’s 30- and seven-day advance pre-weigh ins.
Female Championships Chairman Ed Pearson of Canada gave his report on WBC Female Championships. Ed said, “This has been a banner year – we will have had at least 46 fights this year. It has been an honor to chair this committee, and we hope to have another great year in 2010.”
Gabriel I. Penagaricano Jr. of Puerto Rico was appointed to the WBC legal committee.
To avoid controversies, an amendment to the rules was approved that in all WBC title fights – world championships and regional championships – the champion and challenger must give the hand wraps used in the fight to the WBC supervisor in attendance.
It was reported that Mike Tyson accepted the proposal that a reproduction of his fist and forearm will be used as the trophy given to recipients of the WBC’s annual awards. The trophies will be called, “The Green and Gold Fist Award.”
The 2010 convention in Mexico will coincide with the 200th anniversary of Mexican Independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution.
A motion was passed for the 2111 convention to be held in Turkey, in either Istanbul or Ankara.