The final day of the WBO?s 23rd annual convention in Cartagena, Colombia concluded yesterday with the closing dinner and awards ceremony. With most of the scheduled events concluding the previous day, delegates were allowed to explore the historic city of Cartagena for much of the day. The highlight of the evening affair was the awards ceremony in which numerous WBO fighters, promoters, and others received special awards from the WBO. Most notably, former WBO light heavyweight champion Dariusz Michalczewski (48-2, 38 KOs) received a super championship belt to commemorate his impressive, and dominant, reign as WBO champion from 1994-2003.
Michalczewski was one of the driving forces for the WBO in the mid 1990s, and his victories over Virgil Hill (in a unification bout for the IBF and WBA title?s in 1997) was one of the most significant light heavyweight fights of the last twenty years.
Also receiving awards were Fernando Beltram (Latin Promoter of the year), WBO female light middleweight champion Hanna Gabriel (who quickly emerged as the most popular boxer at the convention with fans and locals), Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. (who also collected an award on belhalf of his father), Wladimir Klitschko (whose award was collected on his behalf from Tom Loefller), Ricky Burns (whose award was collected on his behalf by Dean Powell), Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Lopez, Juan Manuel Marquez (who had Eric Gomez receiving his award on his behalf), as well as Manny Pacquiao (whose award was received by Carl Moretti).
Rounding of the event was a brief video that featured highlights from last years WBO convention in Budapest. President Francisco ?Paco? Varcarcel also took time to speak to these in attendance and thank them for attending what was widely seen as one of the most exciting and impressive boxing conventions in recent memory. The 24th annual WBO convention will be held in October of 2011 in Puerto Rico.
