I spoke with the President of the WBC, Mauricio Sulaiman, earlier today. We touched on several subjects, but we also focused on the fight?
Tonight at Madison Square Garden, Sergio Martinez defends his WBC middleweight title against Miguel Cotto. With countless sanctioning bodies having splintered the title, along with the notion of one unified champion in each weight class, the WBC belt has the distinction of being for the lineal middleweight title.
I spoke with the President of the WBC, Mauricio Sulaiman, earlier today. We touched on several subjects, but we also focused on the fight.
It goes without saying that every fighter is tough. If one isn?t tough, one needs to find another profession and find it fast. But Sergio Martinez and Miguel Cotto, in addition to having the requisite toughness to compete in the hardest sport at the highest level, also comport themselves with Spartan simplicity. Still, however dignified and stoic, they?re not averse to letting their emotions show when it?s appropriate. But they seem more at ease letting their fists, rather than their mouths, do the talking.
I asked Mauricio Sulaiman, who has known both fighters for many years, not to handicap the fight, which we would inappropriate under the circumstances, but about his impressions of the fighters, as men, as combatants, as exemplars of the sport.
?Both are icons which are representing a whole country,? he said. ?They are putting their careers on the line in this fight, which is full of passion, which is full of animosity. Both have big egos. Both have tremendous concern of failing to their countrymen. But at the same time, both are very humble, very well representing the sport outside of the ring.
?So this is a very special fight. They have proven to be great fighters. This is a fight where perhaps there?s a lot at stake?not only for the championship, but because of what it represents for Argentina and Puerto Rico.?
