Jose Sulaiman wraps up WBC convention by quitting, then coming back
It's amazing wine wasn't thrown in somebody's face.
Just two days after receiving honours from the Guinness Book of World Records as “Longest Serving President of a Global Sports Organization", World Boxing Council (WBC) President Jose Sulaiman resigned his office at the 48th annual WBC convention,
only to re-assume office hours later.
Sulaiman effectively stunned those at the convention when he resigned after a heated debate with legendary promoter Don King regarding the possibility of a voluntary Vitali Klitschko bout in March before his mandatory WBC defence in June.
It’s nice to know these guys still act like grown-ups.
King campaigned against a Klitschko bout in March, due to the fact that he and ARENA promoter Ahmet Oner are co-promoting the WBC heavyweight elimination bout on December 17, and insisted its success rely on Klitschko fighting the winner immediately after.
The December elimination bout will feature Odlanier Solis, a top rated heavyweight the world over, and WBC No.1 rated Ray Austin.
To back up his case, King cited that his fighter Samuel Peter was not granted the opportunity to fight Klitschko in a rematch following an injury that put Peter on the sidelines in 2008. He implied that in light of this injustice the WBC should conduct
itself rightly to preserve its (arguably already tarnished) dignity.
After Sulaiman publicly acknowledged that he would favour a request to allow Klitschko a March bout against Tomasz Adamek and not the WBC top contender, a debate with King became so heated he reportedly declared resignation, saddened that “not even his close
friends” understood him and his intentions.
Sulaiman was rooting for two bouts from Klitschko because he felt profits made within the ninety-day mark would help ease the burden of a $30,000,000 judgement against the WBC won by Graciano Rocchigiani in 2003.
That judgement, ultimately settled out of court, led the WBC to make six-figure monthly payments to Rocchigiani from 2003 to 2009, when the sanctioning body stated they could no longer afford the amount.
Rocchigiani filed a lawsuit against the WBC in 1998 after he was stripped of his light heavyweight title seemingly arbitrarily.
Tags: