By James Blears.
World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman is asking his board of Governors to decide whether he should continue or step down.
Don Jose explained that he’s contacting the 34 Strong Board of Governors, who are the boxing commissions representing the one hundred and sixty four nations affiliated to the WBC.
“Don Jose explained: “I want them to let me know if the cycle is closed or if they believe my cycle is still open, and that I can continue.”
The vote will be taken at the WBC’s 49th annual Convention in China on October 25th. But Don Jose stressed: “I’m saying, only if I receive a unanimous vote shall I continue.
“There’s still a lot to do. I still feel that I can do a lot of work and I still feel young and very optimistic for the future.
“But my concern is this. I don’t want to continue doing something that I love, if there are people within my group that do not believe that I should continue. Because then, that is the beginning of the end, and I do not want to go into the beginning of the end.”
Don Jose has been President of the World Boxing Council since 1975. During his Presidency the WBC has championed a variety of innovations which have lessoned the risks of many of boxing’s most dangerous aspects.
Championship fights have been reduced from fifteen to twelve rounds. Weigh ins have been put back from the day of the fight to twenty hours before. And weight checks are now done at thirty and seven days before bouts. At these points, fighters are not permitted to be more than ten percent and five percent over their stipulated categories, to insure excessive and dangerous eleventh hour starving and dehydration doesn’t take place.
Other major innovations include a fourth ring rope to help save the heads of knocked down boxers colliding with the canvass, a World medical Advisory Board and two Medical Conventions, the thumb attached glove, plus the WBC Benevolent and Friendly Hand Foundation which helps many ex boxes with food, pensions, hospitals and medical bills.
Don Jose mentioned there are a number of potential worthy successors if the Board of Governors decided that he should pass the torch of leadership. These include: Charles Giles of Great Britain, Rex Walker of the United States, Frank Quill of Australia and Edmund Lipinski of Russia.
However he also added that he’s asked his youngest son Mauricio who’s the WBC’s Executive Secretary not to put his name forward. Don Jose explained:
“Mauricio is my motor. He is the one who is making everything happen. Without Mauricio I couldn’t do thirty percent of what I do today. But we have our businesses and enterprises and we have let them suffer in our absence.
“Mauricio is young, he has a very beautiful family and I believe it’s time he devotes at least fifty percent of his time to them. Now he’d devoting almost one hundred percent to boxing.”
