Dear Mike:
Your column sent to me by a friend is incorrect. The WBC is not suing Manny Pacquiao, nor is it suing Bob Arum.
Your unfriendly and disrespectful words about the case of the WBC and Rocchigiani are false. The WBC never stripped Rocchigiani and all evidence showed that the WBC never approved anything else than an interim Championship , it was the promoters who sold the promotion without the WBC’s approval ; we were deceived by them.
I have never objected nor have I ever expected writers, specially friend writers like you, saying the truth ; but, what does not fit into the mystic of journalism is writers stating lies.
I have always been in your corner and I thought that we have always been good friends; when you were in the promotion field I never did anything that might have hurt you; it is very sad to see at my age, that regardless of any ones behavior, those who we think as friends, do not correspond with straightforwardness and respect and work to create a depressing feeling for ingratitudes received in our passing through life in the sport of our love.
Respectfully,
Don Jose Sulaiman
Dear Mr. Sulaiman:
As promised, Senor Sulaiman, I print your response in toto.
What you do not address is whether Pacquiao/Top Rank owe you any money for sanctioning fees.
I hear that the WBC will soon settlle fully with Rochiggiani and that he is winding up with somewhere between $1.5 million and $3 million which is a helluva lot less than the $31 million judgement he got in federal court in New York. I know you cannot address that as I’m sure it was a confidential, sealed settlement.
I am glad that the WBC will continue to operate because I believe, through the decades, the green and gold belt has become a symbol of valor to many fighters and many fans and that your belt means something way beyond the borders of home base, Mexico.
I also respect you because, although we’ve agreed to disagree many times on many issues, you’ve always rendered a fair hearing before making your decision.
On the medical front, on ring safety issues, you’ve been in the vanguard, no doubt, and I respect this also.
Maybe I shall see you in Brockton, Mass., when the Rocky Marciano statue is dedicated in his hometown where even the high school athletic teams are known as the Brockton Boxers.
Michael Marley
