The Aztec Warrior WBC Belt
The World Boxing Council created the Aztec Warrior belt as a homage to those great mexican fighters who have given the world of boxing memorable battles when they meet in the ring.
The passing away of Israel Vazquez inspired President Mauricio Sulaiman to créate this special trophy to be presented to the winner of special fights between mexican fighters.
Isaac Pitbull Cruz met Angel Fierro on february 1 2025 and could not have been a better fight to exemplify the meaning of the Aztec Warrior. The fight was a thriller and immediatte candidate for fight of the year.
PBC announced the rematch to take place in the undercard of the Pacquiao vs Barrios fight on July 19 and the WBC decided to design and create a new version for this sensational and eagerly anticipated rematch.
Most unfortunately Fierro was pulled out of the fight and Pitbull ended up fighting Omar Salcido, winning the WBC super lightweight Interim Title.
The WBC then announced that the special belt would be awarded to the best fighter of the night, the one who embodied the spirit of the AZTEC WARRIOR Accolade, and this distinción would be decided by a vote of the fans.
Saturday july 19 fight card at the MGM was all passion, drama and glory. All the fights were close and competitive. It was a memorable night of boxing indeed.
Now, the WBC is proud to announce that based on the fan’s votes it is our great honor to award the Aztec Warrior II belt to both:
Sebastian Fundora & Manny Pacquiao
Both fighters had memorable performances and are fully deserving of sharing the glory of receiving this incredible unique masterpiece of art, as a tribute to their courage and ringmanship.
Manny Pacquiao – Coming back to the ring at the age of 46 and 4 years after his last fight in the ring was highly questioned by the boxing world. The WBC fully supported him to challenge Barrios for the welterweight title and Manny provided a perfomance for the ages, simply put, one of the greatest performances in the history of sports. The draw does not represent the achievement of glory for Manny Pacquiao, boxing, the phillipines and the world.
Sebastian Fundora – The reigning WBC Super welterweight champion faced Tim Tszyu in a rematch which was awarded the most dramatic fight of 2024. From the first bell this time around, The Towering Inferno relentlessly pursued, attacked and punished Tszyu, dropping him in round 1 and hurting him throughout the fight. However, Tszyu never backed down and was dangerous throughout. He bloodied Fundora`s nose in round 4 and the sheer intensity of the fight brought the crowd to the edge of their seats and then on to their feet.
Fundora retained his title via TKO, after Tszyu was unable to continue.
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