Terence Crawford revealed anew what past generations have known for a long time: the WBC (World Boxing Council) is a terrible organization.
Consider, it’s been 35 years since then-WBC President Jose Sulaiman tried to deny the heavyweight title from James “Buster” Douglas after the underdog’s shocking knockout victory over Mike Tyson. Yet, the WBC continued on its merry way for years. One of their 1990s-era escapades almost resulted in its own demise.
But now, with Jose’s son – current WBC boss Mauricio Sulaiman – stripping Crawford of the WBC’s super middleweight title for not paying an exorbitant sanction fee – a new day may have arrived. The backlash to an absurd Sulaiman video where he admonished Crawford for not paying a preposterous $300,000 sanctioning fee has been swift and fierce. It not only resulted in an angry response from the increasingly influential Crawford, but it produced responses from WBC opponents who could potentially look to flatten the Mexico-based sanctioning body much like Douglas did Tyson.
Even knowing that those opponents could have questionable motives themselves – killing off the WBC would be ridding the sport of a decades-long scourge.
THE DOUGLAS-TYSON DEBACLE
The WBC has existed since the 1960s. But its most infamous deed happened 35 years ago.
It was February 1990, and 42-1 underdog Douglas had knocked out Tyson in Tokyo in what remains the biggest upset in sports history. With the green WBC belt newly strapped around Buster’s waist, promoter Don King, who had just seen his cash cow Tyson destroyed before the world, hatched a plan with Jose Sulaiman to negate Douglas’s win. He took to the videotape at the post-fight press conference and claimed that, during an eighth-round Tyson knockdown of Douglas, Buster had been a recipient of a long count – deeming Tyson the true knockout winner and therefore still reigning heavyweight champ.
“The first knockout totally obliterated the second knockout,” King bellowed.
Incredibly, Jose Sulaiman supported King’s outrageous claim – he typically did whatever King told him – and suspended recognition of Douglas as champion in the days following the fight. Eventually, they sheepishly caved to public demand, and Douglas was rightly recognized as champion.
That incident alone – a governing organization attempting to reverse a legitimate result it neither expected nor liked – would be enough to oust most sports league presidents. Picture the Eagles winning the Super Bowl, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell declaring the Chiefs the rightful champions postgame, citing a bad call by the officials. How do you suppose that would go down?
Goodell wouldn’t make it to President’s Day.
But here are the Sulaimans – still in control more than three decades later.
But there’s more.
THE ROCCHIGIANI CASE
A few years later, when Roy Jones Jr. abdicated the 175-pound title to pursue the heavyweight title, the WBC paired contenders Graciano Rocchigiani and Michael Nunn for the vacant crown. Rocchigiani won a split decision in March 1998 and was therefore recognized as the WBC champion. But when Jones Jr. changed his mind and announced his return to the 175-pound ranks, the WBC demoted Rocchigiani to “Interim” champion and essentially made Jones Jr. the real champion again.
Jose Sulaiman chalked his deceitful move up to a misunderstanding – a “typographical error” – even though “WBC light heavyweight championship” was splashed all over the Rocchigiani-Nunn promotional material.
But the hijinks resulted in big problems for the WBC. Rocchigiani sued them and was awarded a $31 million judgment by a federal judge. Had the German fighter insisted on the lump sum – he would have bankrupted the WBC and put them out of business for good and forever. Instead, Rocchigiani settled for a 10-year payment plan.
And the WBC has somehow survived it all.
MODERN FIASCOS
Today, the WBC legacy of deceit and self-service continues with impunity. In recent weeks and days, Mauricio Sulaiman has approved: a number one welterweight ranking for Conor Benn despite Benn having not campaigned at welterweight for several years; a shot at WBC junior middleweight champ Mario Barrios to Ryan Garcia despite Garcia losing his last fight in miserable fashion to Rolando Romero (and, before that, failing a drug test vs. Devin Haney); a January 10 fight between WBC super lightweight champion Subriel Matias and Dalton Smith despite Matias failing a drug test.
And the latest doozy: Stephen Fulton missed weight by two pounds on Friday in his scheduled December 6 challenge of O’Shaquie Foster’s for Foster’s WBC junior lightweight title. Instead of having the title on the line for Foster only – or just scrapping the fight altogether – the WBC sanctioned the fight for the “Interim” 135-pound title.
And we haven’t even gotten into the ridiculous amount of belts awarded to fighters in each of the 17 divisions: Diamond Belts, Silver Belts, Eternal Belts, regional and interim titles. All of which require sanction fees.
And not to mention, the special consideration over the years that the WBC has bestowed upon its current cash cow, Canelo Alvarez, in protecting him from perhaps his greatest challenge, David Benavidez. Whereas the WBC enforces its rules with fighters who are unheralded, it caters to Canelo and often allows him to avoid serious challenges. Over the last three years, the WBC has approved Canelo fights with the likes of Edgar Berlanga and William Scull, yet allowed him to bypass Benavidez.
A GALA EVENT
Much of the recent news broke at the WBC’s 63rd annual convention, which was no small party. Held at the Marriott Marquis Queens Park Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, November 30 through December 5, the convention includes “spectacular fight nights, awards and gala events, cultural showcases, including a special Thai souvenir gift.”
Souvenir gifts and gala events seem like questionable expenditures for an organization that depends on fighter sanctioning fees to exist. How ironic is it that Mauricio Sulaiman would complain about Crawford not paying a sanction fee while his organization is hosting a lavish party in the background? Are we sure that “most” of the money from the sanction fees goes to the Jose Sulaiman Boxers Fund?
I don’t think that we are. Let’s see some proof.
Mauricio Sulaiman has doubled down on his video tirade, announcing this week that Crawford won’t fight a WBC-ranked opponent. It’s not surprising. He’s trying to show the 62-year-old organization is as strong as ever in the face of a changing boxing landscape.
Boxing may be changing, but the WBC never will. It will always be a terrible organization.
Matthew Aguilar may be reached at maguilarnew@yahoo.com
Matthew Aguilar is a columnist and sportswriter. Over his nearly 30-year writing career, he has contributed to Associated Press, USA Today, The RING, Ringside Seat, Boxing Weekly, many newspapers within the Gannett newspaper company and his hometown El Paso Times, where he covered everything from college football and basketball to rodeo. Now based in Chicago, he is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, the Transnational Boxing Rankings and is a voter for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the El Paso Boxing Hall of Fame in 2013.
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