Day three of the WBC convention in Cancun, Mexico opened with a review of the mandatory defenses due in each weight category, but was temporarily and unexpectedly interrupted by the unforeseen resignation of the longest reigning president of a sporting organization in history – Jose Sulaiman!
The mandatory defenses were discussed starting with the Strawweight division and proceeding on up to the heavyweights.
Strawweight
Champion: Oleydong Sithsamerchai
Mandatory challenger: Juan Hernandez
Light Flyweight
Champion: Omar Niño Romero
Mandatory Challenger: Adrian Hernandez
Flyweight
Champion: Pongsaklek Wongjongkam
Mandatory Challenger: Edgar Sosa
Super Flyweight
Champion: Tomas Rojas
Mandatory Challenger: Juan Jose “Goofi” Montes
Bantamweight
Champion: Fernando Montiel
Mandatory Challenger: Winner of eliminator between Sasha Bakhtin and Christian Esquivel.
Super Bantamweight
Champion: Toshiaki Nishioka
Mandatory Challenger: No mandatory for one year due to recent victory over Mandatory Rendall Munroe.
Featherweight
Champion: Elio Rojas (in recess due to surgery) Juan Carlos Burgos and Hozumi Hasegawa to fight for vacant title November 26, 2010. This winner will be obligated to fight two mandatories.
Mandatory Challenger: Jhonny Gonzalez: 1st mandatory. Winner of Justin Savi and Cholatarn O. Piriyapinyo will be 2nd mandatory.
Super Featherweight
Champion: Vitali Tajbert
Mandatory Challenger: Sergey Gulyakevich
Tajbert is scheduled to defend against former WBC Feather champion Takehiro Aoh in Japan on November 2, 2010.
Lightweight
Champion: Humberto Soto
Mandatory Challenger: Antonio DeMarco and Reyes Sanchez for Silver belt. Soto has written the WBC of plans to move up a weight division and vacate title. Soto and DeMarco are cousins and have stated they will never fight each other. When Soto moves up, silver champion will be elevated to full champion.
Super Lightweight
Champion: Devon Alexander
Mandatory Challenger: Winner of upcoming fight between Ajose Olusegun and Ali Chebah. Regarding the WBC/WBO unification fight vs. Tim Bradley in January 29, 2011, the WBC will only recognize Alexander as WBC/WBO champion if he wins, but not Bradley if he wins. This stems from Bradley opting to relinquish the WBC belt prior to his unification with then WBO champ Kendall Holt.
Welterweight
Champion: Andre Berto
Mandatory Challenger: Selcuk Aydin
Super Welterweight
Champion: Vacant (Winner of Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito will be WBC champion) Mandatory Challenger: No Mandatory until title filled
Middleweight
Champion: Sergio Martinez
Mandatory Challenger: Sebastian Zbik (interim champion). #3 David Lemieux and #4 Marco Antonio Rubio to fight an eliminator. Also, #1 Julio Cesar Chavez, the WBC Silver champion. has yet to decide if he will compete at middleweight or back down at Super Welterweight.
Super Middleweight
Champion: Vacant (Winner of Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham will be WBC champion)
Mandatory Challenger: No Mandatory until title filled. Winner of Froch and Abraham must face Kessler (Champion Emeritus due to eye injury). However, the WBC is also respecting the Super Six Tournament and how it plays out.
Light heavyweight
Champion: Jean Pascal
Mandatory Challenger: Has one year to make mandatory defense. It was voted unanimously voted by the board that the December 18, 2010 fight between Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins will be for the WBC Diamond Belt. The bout sold out in 48 hours- 16, 333 seats.
Cruiserweight
Champion: Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
Mandatory Challenger: Francisco Palacios. Herbie Hide had decided to change promoters (from Arena Box), had not defended his WBC international title. Hide took part in an eight man, one night tournament, and then subsequently retired from the sport. Prior to this, Hide filed a lawsuit against the WBC, but it appears they have fallen flat.
Heavyweight
Champion: Vitali Klitschko
Mandatory Challenger: Winner of final eliminator between Ray Austin and Odlianer Solis which will take place in Miami on December 17, 2010.
Klitschko has requested the opportunity to make a voluntary defense against Tomasz Adamek on the 40th anniversary of Ali-Frazier I in Madison Square Garden in March, 2011. According to Tom Loeffler, head of K2 Promotions, HBO is even interested in this bout. Klitschko would then make his mandatory defense no later than June, 2011.
President Sulaiman made an impassioned speech justifying his position to have Klitschko be allowed an optional defense in March, then defend against the Solis-Austin winner by June. Sulaiman felt the financial gain from two heavyweight title fights within ninety days would help ease the long standing WBC financial burden stemming from the $30,000,000 judgment against the WBC won by Graciano Rocchigiani. After that judgment in April 2003, the WBC declared bankruptcy, yet has maintained a six-figure monthly payment to Rocchigiani up until 2009, after which the WBC has been unable to make such payments. After an rejected attempt to settle in Germany with representatives of Rocchigiani, Sulaiman has felt the WBC can only go on with either making the payments out of his own pocket, or solicit help from promoters in clearing the aforementioned debt.
After more words amongst involved promoters, Don King, Tom Loeffler and Ahmet Öner, President Sulaiman took the microphone and emotionally abdicated his 35-year presidency to the astonishment of the gathered attendees. He rose from his seat on the dais, declared that he was resigning immediately as president and that the meeting would resume in 90 minutes, at which time the head microphone would be helmed by someone else. Don King then bellowed that he too was finished with boxing, at which time the room emptied. Loeffler, Öner and King accompanied Sulaiman to his suite, in an effort to iron things out and perhaps to encourage the long reigning president to have a change of heart.
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Jose Sulaiman has resigned as president of the WBC - good riddance!
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Originally Posted by Spicoli
....think he's measured the drapes yet and tested the seat?
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