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WBC GOVERNORS MEET TO FINALIZE DETAILS OF WORLD CUP By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Sat, 09 Jun 2012 World Boxing Council president Don Jose Sulaiman has begun two days of intense work with the members of the Supreme Board of Governors in an effort to finalize the staging of the WBC World Cup of boxing. The WBC said the main goal of the meeting was to clarify the details of the WBC World Cup which is considered an unprecedented event in which all the champions of each of the ten affiliated confederations will participate. The weight divisions decided on were flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, super welterweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. In his remarks Don Jose Sulaiman spotlighted the great importance of the tournament which said ?besides being a platform and a spotlight for boxing, one hundred percent of the revenues will go to a fund to help retired boxers who have come upon hard times." The Supreme Council of Governors decided that a committee would be appointed from outside the council to handle the funds generated by the World Cup. Sulaiman said "In all my years at front of the WBC, I have known boxers who conquer the glory, but at the moment they retire, they end up bad either physically or economically, I am filled with sadness by seeing the old boxers end up hungry and without a clear mind, in some cases. Therefore this Cup it?s very important to me, it will be like returning to boxing legends are a better quality of life, a different destiny.?- He also expressed his gratitude to two men who are an example, "one of them is Carlos Slim, a man whom I admire and I am completely grateful, because he responded to a request I made, giving a lifetime pension including medicines and medical assistance to 27 former champions who live in precarious situations and that only dream those nights of past glory. The other man whom I have no way to thank is the President of the prestigious Swiss watch brand Hublot, Jean-Claude Biver, who had a fantastic idea that will not only help boxers but also recognizes the great legends in boxing. Hublot watches manufactured twelve pairs of the greatest world champions, who will receive the watch as a tribute to his career inside and outside the ring and the other piece will be auctioned at a historic event, where all the resources generated in this auction will go to the pension for former champions who live in misery.? The initiative of the WBC World Cup has been a dream of the president of the WBC, who has struggled his entire life to protect and help the boxers. The intention is to carry the message: "Boxing does not forget its boxers. The WBC World Cup boxing tournament will be the most important, since it involves all the champions of the WBC Continental Federations, Silver and International champions in the eight divisions previous mentioned. The Supreme Council of the Board of Governors unanimously voted to postpone the start of the WBC World Cup until February 15, 2013, having as venue Mexico City, birthplace of the WBC. Jose Sulaiman was forceful in his position: "We cannot allow unequal fights; all participants of the World Cup should be the best in their division." There will be 32 weeks of boxing, 96 professional boxers at the highest level that will be battling for a juicy prize that according to the president will be a great purse. He also announced that the WBC World Cup will be divided into 4 phases: the first will be of qualifying, then quarterfinals, semifinals and final. There?s still no total amount for the award, but it might be up to $ 40,000 for the winner where the prize will increase according to the division. The World Cup will also be given to the Federation that?s wins or that has more winners. South Africa, Bangkok, China, London, Poland, Russia, Hamburg, Italy Panama, Miami, Tokyo, Brazil and Argentina, will be some of the countries that the World Cup will have as venues. It was also made clear that countries wishing to participate as venues must allow the Council to appoint judges and referees. It was also clarified that this event will be held every two years and will be broadcast by three television stations that cover America as well as an agency that will represent the WBC for worldwide broadcast and one television station covering the Chinese territory. This is how the WBC seeks to take boxing to levels that have never been seen before. There were two previous World Cup events organized by Golden Boy Promotions between Mexico and Thailand which Mexico won 5-1 in October 2005 followed by a Mexico-Philippines World Cup at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California in August 2007 which the Philippines won 5-1 highlighted by the stunning 7th round KO victory by Gerry Penalosa over Jhonny Gonzalez to win the WBO bantamweight title. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz. |
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