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Philippines, 23 Jun 2025 |
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DON JOSE SULAIMAN MARKS 35 YEARS AS PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BOXING COUNCIL PhilBoxing.com Mon, 06 Dec 2010  35 years ago, this group of visionaries and boxing lovers gathered, later on others joined them, and there, in Tunisia, in the North of Africa, our World Boxing Council President was elected unanimously, the now Doctor Jose Sulaiman Chagnon, and we are all celebrating the anniversary of his first election. We wish to extend our congratulations and best wishes to Don Jose Sulaiman who has remained a strong ally and friend of the Philippines through all these years and wish him many more years of valued service to boxing. (Ronnie Nathanielsz) DON JOSE SULAIMAN MARKS 35 YEARS AS PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BOXING COUNCIL Today, in the World Boxing Council, we are celebrating, and many thousands of other people who are members of our organization are doing it as well all over the world. It is the 35th anniversary of the election of our President, Doctor Jose Sulaiman Chagnon. It all happened on December 5th, 1975, in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. In that city, Don Jose was unanimously elected as the WBC President during the thirteenth Convention of the organization whose site Hotel was the Africa Hotel of Tunisia. The election took place a few blocks from the site hotel, at the National Auditorium of the political party that was in the power back then, and the President of the Republic of Tunisia was Habib Bourguiba. 32 delegates of the 21 countries that were then affiliated to the WBC took part in the Convention (Our organization currently has 164 affiliated countries). As of the election of Jose Sulaiman as WBC President, the WBC and boxing itself, have changed almost totally in many respects, especially regarding safety and opportunities for the boxers, to an extent that 35 years later, professional boxing in the world is totally different from what it was in the past. Many events of great relevance have changed the face of boxing, improving it in every respect, which would have been inconceivable in the past. The aforementioned fact has made of boxing a lot less risky, particularly for world champions and challengers to world titles, and in general for all those who step in a ring. Revolutionary rules such as the reduction of the length of fights from 15 to 12 rounds, the mandatory official weigh-in 24 hours before bouts, the creation of intermediate divisions, the four-rope ring, the thumb-attached glove, the anti-doping exams after every fight sanctioned by the WBC, the donations to UCLA for scientific research, annual medical exams for champions and ranked fighters, life and hospitalization insurance for all those boxers that participate in cards where there is a world title bout, as well as pensions of financial support for boxers in need all over the world. Among several other achievements reached by the WBC, that would take a huge number of pages if we listed and described all of them, have transformed our sport into a more humanized activity and less risky, therefore more appealing to those who want to become professional boxers. We must add the permanent struggle of the WBC against ?apartheid? in South African boxing that took place up to the point of obtaining the victory which earned our President an award given in the United Nations. Many of the aspects we have mentioned have been copied in the scope of world boxing, which makes us be more than satisfied, as all this is positive for those who devote to boxing. From the moment that Jose Sulaiman was elected WBC President, 35 years ago, up to now, December 5th, 2010, the WBC has sanctioned 1,836 title fights in the five continents, with the participation of the greatest boxers of this era, such as Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez, Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Oscar De La Hoya, Ruben Olivares, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and a big number of many other champions, a number that outdoes what can be imagined. Dozens of political and religious leaders of the highest level, as well as Heads of State of several countries have met with our President and members of the WBC as recognition to the undisputable prestige of our organization. During the 12 years of existence of the WBC prior to the election of Jose Sulaiman, only 301 title fights were sanctioned. Nowadays, the WBC is a respected and widely well-known organization, which keeps being active all year long, with its computers, faxes, etc. always working non-stop, reflecting all this work in a substantially better sport of boxing in every respect. In 2010, during our 48th Annual Convention, held in Cancun, Mexico, Jose Sulaiman set a Guinness world record, as the ?Longest Serving President of a Global Sports Organization?, which earned him a lot of recognition and made him receive congratulations from all over the world. Due to all the previously mentioned facts, as this celebration of the 35th anniversary of Sulaiman?s election is taking place, the WBC staff and executives in Mexico City, as well as the affiliated Continental Federations and all members of the WBC, feel happy, pleased and proud. We congratulate our President, a tireless, strong and eternal boxing lover, Don Jose Sulaiman Chagnon.  |
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