The Return of Boxing in Spain

By Mauricio Sulaimán
President of the WBC – Son of José Sulaimán

I finally returned from a long trip on which I visited London and Madrid with wonderful results.

On one hand, I was present at a majestic boxing event at Wembley Stadium, when the attendance record was broken with 96 thousand fans, and on the other hand, I was where it all begins, in the boxing gyms of Madrid. It was a sensational trip in many ways. I held important meetings with Lennox Lewis and Adrian Ogun, officially presented her green and gold belt to our women’s champion, Caroline Dubois, spent a good time with WBC representatives Geraldine Davies, David Walker, and Ciro Orcini, and had a wonderful meeting with HE Turki Alalshikh and Sela with formidable plans for 2025.

Spain is a very important country for the World Boxing Council, a founding member of the body in 1963, headquarters of the presidency of the European Boxing Union for several decades under the leadership of Don Ruben Martinez, and host country of several annual conventions, in addition to some great champions in history: Jose Legra, Pedro Carrasco, Perico Fernandez, Miguel Velazquez, and the Lince de Parla, Javier Castillejos.

The government authorities of this country made a decision that put our sport on the canvas, prohibiting boxing on television since the 90s; Today, boxing can only be broadcast from midnight to 6 in the morning.

The fans are there and right now boxing is the sport of fashion in society, filling gyms for recreational training, fitness, and for amateur and professional competition.

Cristian Morales with his chain of gyms “Morales Box”; European featherweight champion on two occasions, now passionately dedicated to providing quality service in all his branches full of children and families.

Brooklyn Boxing, which began a few years ago with the effective management of Miguel De Pablos and former champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez, with a large number of units throughout the country as well as internationally.

Emporio Boxing, the champions factory is a high-performance center with dream facilities and who is already the official center of the WBC.

This trip marks the beginning of the new era of Spanish boxing. My friend Luis Menendez, Spanish by birth but who lives in Mexico, has tirelessly sought to find the formula to dignify boxing in his country, in addition to being a great promoter of Mexican boxing.

I held very productive meetings with the President of the Spanish Boxing Federation, Felipe Martinez, and with the President of the Madrid federation, Enrique Soria.

One of the most important meetings was with Media Pro, with whom we began a planning process of various options to bring boxing back to television.

Interesting topics are coming up – amateur tournaments, WBC championships in Spain, social responsibility programs with WBC Cares, training camps at the high-performance center for national and international boxers, and various other topics.

In a memorable meeting, my wife, Christiane, in charge of WBC Cares in Mexico, presented the honorary award to the Mexican television host Jimena Perez. Jimena is a champion of life. She beat breast cancer and is already an ambassador for WBC Cares. She found in boxing the discipline, dedication and passion that motivates her every day to be a winner.

Another WBC ambassador made some time in his busy schedule for us. David Summers, singer and leader of the legendary band “Hombres G,” shared with us alongside his wife Cris.

There are so many stories intertwined with boxing. I had the opportunity to talk with Hovik, the popular Spanish actor born in Lebanon to an Armenian father, who played Bogota in the famous series “Money Heist / La Casa de Papel.” It turns out that he was a two-time Spanish heavyweight champion, and he confided with me that if it wasn’t for his time in boxing, none of his success would have been possible.

Spanish boxing has a hope. His name is Sandor Martin, a star fighter who is the official WBC challenger in super lightweight and is on his way to facing the WBC champion, Alberto Puello.

Sandor was a WBC youth world champion and EBU European champion. He became known in boxing when he faced and defeated the big favorite, the multi-champion Mikey Garcia. Sandor knocked down the double world champion Teofimo Lopez on two occasions, who won a very close split decision. Spanish boxing is on his shoulders and if he is crowned world champion, this country that so badly needs a new boxing idol, will explode in joy.

I met so many dear friends and champions in this trip: Charlie Giles, Lennox Lewis, Tony Bellew, Salvatore Cherchi, Ahmet Oner, Marcos Arienti, Miguel DePablos, Javier Castillejos, Chano Planas, Domingo Matas, and so many more.

October begins with the worldwide campaign for the prevention of breast cancer. It is important for everyone to understand that it is a curable disease as long as it is detected in time. It is human nature to be afraid and hide when something seems wrong, but no, we must promote self-examination, routine check-ups, and go to the doctor when there is the slightest suspicion that one has a lump.

Did you know…?

A large number of legendary boxers left Cuba to pursue a career abroad. Some of them stayed in Mexico, such as Mantequilla Nápoles and Ultiminio Ramos, while the great José Legrá came to Spain to become one of the greatest champions in history.

Today’s anecdote

We were in Torremolinos, Spain, at one of the annual WBC Conventions. At the awards dinner there was a flamenco group, and the atmosphere was wonderful. My dad was at his table with Don King, Bob Arum, Dan Goossen, and others.

Don King got up from the table and went up on stage, pulled out of his pocket a big wad of 100-dollar bills and shouted in his own way: “Yes, yes, for you! Thank you very much! Viva Spain!”, addressing the group, who immediately began to play. Don flirted with the beautiful dancers and began to imitate their dance when suddenly he lost his step and took several steps backwards, and boom! Don King fell on his back, and immediately, he got up to continue dancing without having dropped a single bill during the fall.

Video: https://vimeo.com/1015265899

I appreciate your comments at contact@wbcboxing.com.

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