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

[Dubblechin]

WTF

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 wasn't forced to fight Dzinziruk. He was supposed to Zbik, an actual top middleweight contender. But HBO wouldn't approve him. They did approve the junior middleweight, and Sergio beat him to a pulp.

Meanwhile, Zbik - a real middleweight - fought to a majority decision with the cruiserweight Chavez (ON HBO - they approved Zbik for Chavez but not for Martinez) and now Zbik is going to fight Felix Sturm for his title.

Sulaimain is absolutely right in this matter.

HBO had no business getting involved.

I don't know why they think they are more knowledgeable than anyone else, because their track record isn't better than anyone else's. (In fact, it tends to be worse when it comes to making competitive fights.)

HBO should've stayed out of it and Martinez should've just fought Zbik. He certainly wouldn't have been any worse than Dzinziruk.

[whoseyourdaddy]

Chavez should have been stripped of his title about 2 years ago, and corrupted Sulaiman shoud have retire about a decade ago for good I'm tire of his bull*****

[Dubblechin]

Chavez should have been stripped of his title about 2 years ago, and corrupted Sulaiman shoud have retire about a decade ago for good I'm tire of his bull*****

Martinez would still have his WBC belt if he just fought Zbik. If he'd kept it, Martinez and Chavez would've gone to purse bids by now.

That's the point. HBO blocked Martinez-Zbik. HBO told Sergio they don't approve of Zbik. Instead, HBO approved a fight for Martinez against a guy who, frankly, isn't as good of a middleweight as Zbik. HBO told Martinez he doesn't need the WBC. Meanwhile, they (HBO) have matched him soft and left him sitting on the bench while they concentrated on other guys.

If HBO was a paid consultant to Martinez, they would've deserved to be fired over this mess.

HBO's advice to Martinez has been awful.

That was Sulaiman's point ... and he's absolutely correct. Sulaiman has plenty of faults, but this mess is HBO's doing.

HBO should just televise the matches it wants to show and leave the matchmaking to others. Because they just tend to **** things up when they get directly involved in a fighter's career.

[Ben Bolt]

I do think Chavez is a good fighter (I do respect most men entering the ring). And obviously, he is the WBC champion. So? ...

The thing is, longtime followers of boxing don't pay any attention to the "big four". We've seen their acts of foul play way to often.

See them for what they are, business corps., which are looking after their own interests at the expense of sportsmanship.

Would boxing do better without them? Yes, definitely.

[Pony Boy]

This is the ******est thing I ever heard from any boxing organization. It clearly tells us who's running boxing (the TV networks). This means that world championship organizations and their titles don't have any value what's so ever. Instead HBO and other networks should come out with their own fake world titles. At least this way the boxer will get more money for providing entertainment not a sports event. The WBC has become a disgrace to boxing.

[ny123]

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.

Ok but hasnt the WBC allowed Chavez to fight other people instead of his mandatory Martinez? How come Chavez wasnt stripped? I think we all know why. WBC is a joke organization just like the rest of them.

[rey guey]

hahaha

when does the WBC ever enforce mandatory fights?

Selcuk Aydin was Andre Berto's mandatory for years and they never fought. I think Aydin is also Floyd Mayweather's mandatory but the WBC isn't going to force him because Mayweather will just tell the WBC to go f itself.

Ajose Olusegun has been the 1# for the WBC 140 title for awhile and was promised the winner of Morales vs Garcia. does anyone think Al Haymon will let Garcia anywhere near Olusegun?

Chavez has ignored the WBC twice. he was supposed to face Martinez but instead fought Rubio and now he'll fight Matiroysan. Jose Sulaiman is so full of it. he's just protecting his cash cows.

[throbk1974]

So the WBC stripped Martinez for not fighting his mandatory, but how many fights has the WBC allowed Chavez Jr. to fight, that weren't his mandatory?

[Babalu11]

In part this is Dibella's fault for being HBO little bittch, but at the same time Sulaiman said in an interview Rubio was not the mandatory, then they said he was the mandatory. It's BS they way they've been trying to protect Chavez Jr.

[TaurusJ27]

It sucks that Martinez had to give up that title because of this crap.