Sulaiman High on Chavez-Martinez, Not on Canelo-Lopez

By Miguel Rivera

The President of the World Boxing Council, Jose Sulaiman, is split with his opinions on the September 15th head to head battle between two boxing events in Las Vegas. At the MGM Grand, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will defend the WBC's junior middleweight title against Josesito Lopez, while Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will defend his WBC middleweight against Sergio Martinez at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Sulaiman is very high on the Chavez-Martinez battle, calling the fight "one of the great fights" in the history of boxing. He doesn't share the same opinion on Alvarez-Lopez, feeling the challenger, who two fights ago was competing at junior welterweight, is too small to provide a reasonable challenge to Alvarez.

"The fight will be a classic and I am not in favor of anyone, despite having a very close appreciation for both [Chavez and Martinez]. We will have a fight between two of the greatest fighters at this time. This is a passionate fight for every American," Sulaiman said.

"[Alvarez vs. Lopez], on paper, is not an even [fight], because to me, Saul Alvarez is a great fighter and he's already risen to the top in boxing. Josesito will come to fight and I do not know [if Alvarez] will knock him out, because [Lopez] can endure a lot, but this is not a fight where we can say that there is an extraordinary amount of expectation."