Brace yourself. I?m about to defend Jose Sulaiman and the WBC. Please don fireproof clothing.
See, you can jabber all you want about how the Mexico City-based sanctioning body manipulates the rankings to benefit Mexican fighters. Sulaiman?s guilty as charged on that front, which is why Saul Alvarez holds the WBC belt at 154 and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (43-0-1, 30 KOs) is a titleholder at middleweight. Sergio Martinez, the consensus champion at 160 pounds, holds no ?regular? title at that weight. It?s a wonder that the WBC hasn?t figured a way to make Chris Arreola its heavyweight belt holder and Wladimir Klitschko the Super Duper Diamond Champion Emeritus With Oak Leaves titlist. All of the above is a perfectly valid criticism of the legitimacy of Sulaiman?s little cabal.
Except for one problem?Saul Alvarez has beaten everyone put in front of him (save a single draw early in his career) and so, for now, has Chavez (again, with a single draw). Sure, neither guy has fought anyone of any real note, but if either guy were a tomato can, we?d be having this discussion about Sebastian Zbik or Billy Lyell and I suspect there wouldn?t be nearly as much whining about it from the boxing media.
See, the ?Sulaiman is pushing the Mexican fighters? angle is too good to pass up, and the fact that there?s more than a grain of truth to it only fuels the passion, or should I say the froth, that people have to make comments that frankly border on racism. There?s a palpable desire in some circles to see Chavez, the son of a legend, ?get exposed? this Saturday against Peter Manfredo Jr. (37-6, 20 KOs) Manfredo is an affable chap with a tough-as-nails father for a trainer and a fan-friendly style. He was on The Contender reality series, which means?well, nothing, but everyone always talks about how such-and-such a fighter ?was on The Contender reality series?. Grand scheme it means the journeymen crowned him as the Rat King or something.
Peter Manfredo Jr. is a white American fighter who has been on network television, come through the ranks on ESPN, and now gets to fulfill that American underdog story, and in his way is the big bad Mexican and his Mafia belt aided and abetted by that long-lost Corleone brother in the Federal District. Chavez may as well be Ivan Drago in a sombrero, and since the fight is in Houston, the food will no doubt be better than what the press row would?ve dined on in Rocky IV.
