Comments Thread For: Sulaiman: HBO Stole Sergio Martinez's Title, Not The WBC

[Roman Moreno]

WTF

Martínez won the *interim* WBC superwelterweight belt back in 2008 and then moved up to 160 to land the bigger and better fights. At that point in his career it was the only reasonable path he could take to build his resume and make a strong name for himself. No way he would be where he's now without the Pavlik and Williams wins. Finally, he only fought Dzinziruk at middle cause he was forced to (and btw, I rank that as a good win, certainly better than the Barker and Macklin ones).

He got promoted to full WBC 154 champion after Vernon Forrest passing.

He had a choice to keep either the WBC 154 or the WBC 160...He chose the WBC 160. Got stripped of the WBC 154 and for some reason that still is a head scratcher to me got stripped of the WBO 160.

Considering that P-Will asked for a catch-weight. And, after Martinez pretty much campaigned at 154. I think it's safe to say he could have fought the P-Will rematch at 154 and defend that belt if he had chose to go that route.

And, then the Dzinziruk fight would have been for a unification at 154. Again if he would have gone that route.

The reason why I believe he chose 160 was because it was a weight that he could make comfortably. While probably struggle to make 154.

[ny123]

I could be mistaken but hasn't Martinez been Chavez's mandatory while Chavez fought his last couple fights? Why hasn't Chavez been stripped if that is the case?

[danktrees]

Right. HBO is the bad guy for not allowing we in the boxing public the unmitigated pleasure of watching the legitimate Champion of the World fight the division's #19 or #20 contender. For shame, HBO!

while what Suleiman is saying is complete BS, you are completely wrong. The interim champ is never considered the 19th or 20th ranked contender. He's actually the #1 ranked contender and should always be given a title shot.

what Suleiman said is technically correct, it's just wrong because in reality, his organization doesn't enforce mandatories. If they did then there's nothing wrong with what he said. Also, how ****** is he for saying they had to strip Martinez of his title because he didn't fight his mandatory when Jr. has ignored all their demands that he face Martinez as his mandatory and they didn't take the title away from him. Ridiculous.

[PACnPBFsuck]

The biggest threat to Sergio is not JCCjr, it's Sulaiman. He really dislikes Sergio.

[brains4boxing]

bullcrap

well make chavez fight sergio martinez immediately then or shut the *** up ....n hbo had something 2 do wit it 2...they close 2 bob arum....and wbc rather have mexicans wit they belts.....this whole boxing is ***ed up...sergio right at this moment n life iz fighting incredible....n nobody has da guts 2 step up....floyd will

[Ben Bolt]

Sergio, why bother about the WBC?

Every independent ranking (including Boxing Scene & The Ring) recognizes you as the true World Middleweight Champion.

No need for the WBC.

[lastrealfan]

who cares

who cares about that bull**** belt. We all know who the real champ is.

[lightsoutOhio]

Wbc Sulaiman is a racists towards anyone but mexican fighters. Why not strip B class fighter Chavez Jr? Sergio will beat the s#it out of him! Hope sergio gets the WBC belt back...then throw that belt in the trash. WBC is nothing but a back alley business. People like Sulaiman and Bob Arum are hurting the sport of boxing.
Now to the very few chavez jr fans. First it must really suck to fellow a *****@ss fighter that doesnt want to fight the best. 45+fights let your balls drop Damn! Sergio only wants the belt back that he earned. Chavez jr is a 190lber scared of a 154-160lber sergio..............P U S S Y chavez jr....go back home son and wash daddies nutts

[Dubblechin]

Jose Sulaiman is absolutely correct in this matter. Martinez was supposed to face his mandatory, HBO refused to "approve" Zbik, so Martinez wouldn't fight him (because he has a tv contract with HBO).

Instead, HBO "approved" a guy who never fought at middleweight and wasn't ranked at 160, and Martinez knocked him down five times, totally dominated every round, and stopped him in eight.

How the hell was Dzinziruk deemed a better opponent by HBO? Why didn't they just "approve" Zbik? Zbik had won 10 or 11 regional or interim middleweight title fights in his career. He was undefeated. He was a REAL middleweight.

Ratings bodies are supposed to rank fighters and designate mandatory contenders. Managers are supposed to select the opponents. Promoters are supposed to promote the fight. AND TV NETWORKS ARE SUPPOSED TO SHOW THE FIGHTS. The sport works fine when everyone does their designated job.

When TV networks decide ONLY THEY can rate fighters, select opponents and promote fighters ... that's when guys get stripped, and fighters sit on the shelf for a long time, and good fights don't get made.

Martinez fought Dzinziruk, and it was so easy he wanted to fight again right away. But HBO didn't have any money budgeted for him, and they didn't have a date on their schedule, and he had to sit on the shelf for nearly the rest of the year waiting around ... and then they didn't have enough for a decent opponent.

I don't know why HBO thinks they can do a better job. I've seen more competitive fights over the years arranged by sanctioning bodies than I've ever seen "arranged" by HBO.

[lightsoutOhio]

I see Sulaiman is blaming everyone but himself...first its Texas commission for not testing Chavez Jr after hes last fight. chavez jr all ready pop on a test before- he should be tested. Now its Hbo because you stripped the TRUE Champ Sergio. Fool your the president of WBC Dirty @ss f#cker!!!!!