By James Blears
Mexican heavyweight Telmex has launched a sponsorship deal for 20 young bright young boxing prospects.
The scholarship deal aptly entitled Ring Telmex, is the brainchild of the sporting arm of Institute Telmex and the World Boxing Council.
Senior Telmex Director Arturo Elias Ayub who is President of Foundation Telmex explained: “While talking with Mr Sulaiman, I was telling him that we used to have Mexican champions in the Olympics and world championships but now we have nothing. So it’s time to come back.
“Everybody wants to be with sports people when they have already reached the top in sports. Nobody is looking to start from the beginning, so that’s what we are doing.”
Ten of the young prospects are already professional boxers while the other half are promising amateurs. Each will receive ten thousand pesos per month, a laptop and a connection to internet. They will also be guided by a group of professionals which will include psychologists, nutrition expert and legal eagles.
To hold on to their four year sponsorship deal, the boxers must not loose more than twenty percent of their fights. They must also maintain their clean cut lifestyle by not missing more than ten percent of scheduled training sessions, while no drugs or bad boy antics will be tolerated.
The two groups contain a deep reservoir of talent including Pan American Games gold Medallist Bantamweight Carlos Cuadras who’s starting his professional with three knockouts in three fights, and amateur Carlos Zarate Jr- the son of the legendary Champ Carlos Zarate. Junior is a robust lightweight. He has a record of fifteen fights one draw and twelve KO’s. He’s the Champion of the Cinturon De Plata Competition.(Silver Belt).
Arturo Elias Ayub says with their ring firepower and developing abilities the group could win several medals at the London Olympics and could well produce two or three world champions in the professional ranks.
WBC President Jose Sulaiman who’s worked with Telmex to create the scholarships said: “These young people are pioneers who will sow the seeds for a new future in boxing throughout Mexico. The elite of Mexican society have golf, tennis and cars. But what about ninety percent of the rest of the country, who don’t have the money to go into those sports? They are the owners of boxing and all popular sports. We are so grateful to Telmex because they have taken the first step, and I hope that others will follow.”