Casual Talk from Hollywood, California – I really cannot blame World Boxing Council (WBC) President Jose Sulaiman for feeling the diminishing weight of his authority over Manny Pacquiao. In
his statement quoted by Ronnie Nathanielsz for Boxingscene recently, Sulaiman has said: “He (Pacquiao) is a hero and I like him very much. He is not paying any respect to the WBC and myself at all. He has never mentioned anything favorable to the WBC.”
I wonder if Sulaiman, a philosopher of several degrees, to wit, in social sciences, physical culture and humane letters, really were in the best of his mind when he made such statement public. He is a very keen thinker and yet so enterprising. And I think he knows the implications of what he has uttered affecting Pacquiao.
All in all, I think Sulaiman must know how much empowered the fighters have become since Pacquiao has asserted his prominence and started to value his own choices in consonance with his promoter’s will. This pertains to choosing fighters and whether Pacquiao should just defend his acquired WBC titles or simply stick to his program with his own promoter.
I am glad modern fighters, like Pacquiao, are no longer enslaved to the wishes of the sanctioning authorities, wherein fighters are compelled to fight even for a small purse. Behind the scene deals which were deemed not fair to fighters were rampant. Now, fighters are empowered to say no, regardless of the belt(s) on the line. To some, they say “Who cares about belts?”
Sulaiman has forgotten the honorary WBC Diamond Belt for the Pacquiao-Cotto fight which was not truly significant but just a begging signatory of his authority and simply finding relevance of the said fight. But, was that belt really necessary to make such fight happen? Or, was it just meant to add glamor to the declining authority of the WBC over a much-assertive fighter’s campaign which was really meant to overrride Pacquiao’s inevitable empowerment?
Let me tell you: It was all about the relevance of the utility theory of economics.
