Great article on Pavlik/Taylor II - Plus info on the crap the WBC pulled with Pavlik

[Diane]

Here is a great article written by Thomas Hauser regarding the rematch of Pavlik & Taylor, but the most compelling stuff that he writes about, is the corrupt bullshit that the WBC pulled on Kelly Pavlik for this fight, and his first fight with Taylor.

Boxing - News & Results - USA Boxing News


This is the first article that Thomas was referring to, and was written just after the first fight. It gives even more details about the incident with Kelly's trunks, and the vail threats given by Mauricio Sulaiman.

Boxing - Columns - Thomas Hauser

That Mauricio Sulaiman is a real piece of shit.

[Deanrw]

It really does not pay for a fighter to have multiple belts. Corrupted organizations all looking for a piece of the pie!

The full circle of green keeps them in business though. Promoters want to have their cards with title belts as it will attract more money. Even if Pavlik dumped the belt, some other promoter (possibly even Arum himself) and two camps will happily fight for that "world championship" and bill it as such.

[El Gamo]

Thanks for the article.What pieces of shit. I wish the RING would do something about this and become a full fledged org rather than a mag which gives out belts here and there. That crook and his son.Punks. Here it is for those that can't find it:

A NOTE ON A RELATED MATTER: Last September, I reported on events that occurred in Kelly Pavlik’s dressing room on the night he fought Jermain Taylor for the first time. In so doing, I recounted how Mauricio Sulaiman (World Boxing Council executive secretary and the son of WBC president Jose Sulaiman) sought to acquire the bloodstained trunks that Pavlik had worn in the fight. Mauricio left the dressing room with the trunks in hand. Later, he was confronted regarding the matter and the trunks were returned.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Mauricio said afterward. “I was led to believe that Kelly wanted the trunks to be presented as a gift to my father because of his respect for my father and the WBC. When it was brought to my attention that Kelly wished to have the trunks back, I arranged quickly to return them.”

Boxing memorabilia expert Craig Hamilton estimated at the time that the trunks were worth as much as $25,000. With Pavlik-Taylor II, the WBC went directly for the cash. Even though the contract weight for the rematch was 166 pounds and no title was at stake, the WBC charged Pavlik a fee of $25,000.

The Pavlik camp was unhappy about the $25,000 charge. There was discussion in the dressing room before the fight as to whether Kelly should rip the WBC patch off his trunks or, alternatively, take a marker pen and put a dollar sign over it. Ultimately, they decided to let the patch be.

After the fight, a WBC representative visited Pavlik’s dressing room and presented him with a trophy in the form of an Aztec warrior, connoting the fact that Kelly is a true warrior. At first glance, the trophy resembles the statues that one sees selling in job-lot stores. It’s made of metal and wood with a WBC logo affixed to the base. The WBC did not respond to a request for information regarding how many of the statues are in existence, how they’re manufactured, where they’re purchased, which fighters have received them in the past, and how much they cost.

“Our $25,000 statue,” one member of Team Pavlik called the trophy. Others in the dressing room were less complimentary about it.

$25,000 is a lot of money. $25,000 pays the salary of a Youngstown Police Department rookie cop for eight months. $25,000 just about covers the salary of an entry-level teacher in the Youngstown school system for a year. And $25,000 means a lot to Kelly Pavlik, who last year was doing landscape work for ten dollars an hour to make ends meet.

The WBC says the $25,000 fee was called for under its rules and regulations. Assuming the propriety of the WBC code (which is a rash assumption), it still appears as though the charge was improper.

Section 7.4(b) of the WBC Rules and Regulations states, “In the event that a WBC champion fights for another organization’s title in a higher weight class or in a lower weight class in a bout in which his WBC title is not also at stake, the champion must pay to the WBC fifty percent of the WBC sanction fee as stated herein in view of the market value brought to the bout as a result of his standing attained as a WBC champion.”

But Pavlik-Taylor II was not “for another organization’s title.” There was no belt at stake.

Meanwhile, although Kelly is also the World Boxing Organization middleweight champion, the WBO did not charge a fee for Pavlik-Taylor II. It’s rare that the WBO can claim the high moral ground, but it did on this one.

The WBC is a 501(c) “not-for-profit corporation” incorporated in Puerto Rico. Reliable sources say that it receives close to $3,000,000 a year in “sanctioning fees” and “bout fees” from fighters and promoters. Most of that sum comes from the United States. It would be enlightening if someone from the Ohio congressional delegation spearheaded an investigation into how this money is collected and where it goes.

[Beanflicker]

I'm reminded of James Toney claiming that the WBC standed for "We Be Crooks". How right he was.

[Diane]

Well since El Gamo posted the most recent story about the WBC, I thought that I would post the first one, since it gives more details about what happened when Pavlik first beat Taylor.

And thanks for the rep El Gamo, I tried to give it back, but it said I have to spread more around first.


A NOTE ON A RELATED MATTER: After referee Steve Smoger gave Kelly Pavlik his instructions in the dressing room prior to Taylor-Pavlik, Mauricio Sulaiman came into the room. Mauricio is the son of WBC president Jose Sulaiman. In recent years, he has assumed an increasingly active role within the sanctioning body. He is now the WBC’s executive secretary and is in charge of the organization’s executive office in Mexico City.

In the dressing room, Mauricio approached veteran cornerman Miguel Diaz and told him, “If Kelly wins, I would like his trunks to present as a gift to my father.” Diaz relayed the request to Mike Pavlik, who responded, “No way.”

After the fight, Mauricio returned to the dressing room and renewed his request.

“Oh, man,” Kelly said. “These are my trunks. Next fight, maybe; but not this one. I just won the championship in these trunks. My blood is on them.”

More people were drawn into the conversation. One-on-ones followed. Some words were exchanged regarding the discretionary powers of WBC officials and their ability to make things easy or hard on WBC champions. Mauricio Sulaiman left Boardwalk Hall with Kelly Pavlik’s bloodstained trunks. In the wee small hours of Sunday morning, he was confronted regarding the matter and the trunks were returned.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Mauricio told this writer. “I was led to believe that Kelly wanted the trunks to be presented as a gift to my father because of his respect for my father and the WBC. When it was brought to my attention that Kelly wished to have the trunks back, I arranged quickly to return them.”

Federal law states, “No officer or employee of a sanctioning organization may receive any compensation, gift, or benefit, directly or indirectly, from a boxer [other than a sanctioning fee].” Violation of this law is a crime punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of $20,000.

When a powerful WBC official makes a request such as the one Sulaiman made of Pavlik, there’s an inherent coercive factor at work. That’s why there’s a law against it.

Craig Hamilton (the foremost boxing memorabilia dealer in the United States) estimates that Pavlik’s trunks from his championship-winning fight could be worth as much as $25,000. The WBC received a substantial sanctioning fee for Taylor-Pavlik. That should suffice for everyone’s purposes.

This isn’t the first time that Mauricio Sulaiman has made a request of this nature. One hopes it’s the last.