Tweet
Sulaiman said at this point, Alvarez’s “franchise” title is not transferable should he lose. Sulaiman said he and the WBC Board of Governors retain the right to “assess” future situations to “create a better, clearer path to make the best fights.
“We will not have franchise champions all over the place. It is a designation for Canelo Alvarez only,” Sulaiman said.
“We will not have franchise champions all over the place. It is a designation for Canelo Alvarez only,” Sulaiman said.
“We’re trying to make things more clear and have a path to grow the sport, and that happens when you have marquee fighters who are active and taking fights that make the sport better,” Sulaiman said.
“We’re giving a fighter who is the highest paid athlete in the world – unquestionably the biggest attraction today in boxing – a channel so he can do the fights we all want to be made. We are enhancing his position by opening channels for fights to be made, not blocking them.”
“This has been an issue for a long time. There can be so many complications in the boxing world when an elite fighter is having success,” Sulaiman said. “When organizations start putting the mandatories on a champion with multiple titles who is fighting in multiple divisions, it makes things worse for the administration of the sport and for the fans. We have seen this with elite fighters like Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao – fighters of their era. Now, in Canelo’s era, he has three middleweight belts, a super-middleweight belt and is even trying to do a light-heavyweight title fight.
“He’s been affiliated with the WBC for 12 years, has come along our path and is fighting only elite, championship-level opponents, so the WBC has created this designation of franchise champion for him. We have assigned this franchise tag in a way to help him take the fights he wants, and he’s going into that ring representing the WBC regardless of what weight division he fights.”
“Canelo Alvarez is a fighter who’s a major force in the sport right now. We cannot have the mandatory simply wait when things are not ready for that fight. This has to do with the obligations of a champion, but most importantly, it’s a designation to elevate and provide the due place of a fighter in these current times.”
“We’re giving a fighter who is the highest paid athlete in the world – unquestionably the biggest attraction today in boxing – a channel so he can do the fights we all want to be made. We are enhancing his position by opening channels for fights to be made, not blocking them.”
“This has been an issue for a long time. There can be so many complications in the boxing world when an elite fighter is having success,” Sulaiman said. “When organizations start putting the mandatories on a champion with multiple titles who is fighting in multiple divisions, it makes things worse for the administration of the sport and for the fans. We have seen this with elite fighters like Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao – fighters of their era. Now, in Canelo’s era, he has three middleweight belts, a super-middleweight belt and is even trying to do a light-heavyweight title fight.
“He’s been affiliated with the WBC for 12 years, has come along our path and is fighting only elite, championship-level opponents, so the WBC has created this designation of franchise champion for him. We have assigned this franchise tag in a way to help him take the fights he wants, and he’s going into that ring representing the WBC regardless of what weight division he fights.”
“Canelo Alvarez is a fighter who’s a major force in the sport right now. We cannot have the mandatory simply wait when things are not ready for that fight. This has to do with the obligations of a champion, but most importantly, it’s a designation to elevate and provide the due place of a fighter in these current times.”
“From a business perspective, Mauricio had no choice but to do this,” said a high-ranking WBC official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly on the financial benefits of Alvarez’s “franchise” designation.
Arum agrees with the decision and wants Lomachenko to be designated Franchise Champion after he beats Campbell
One surprising supporter of Sulaiman is veteran promoter Bob Arum, who was appreciative recently for the WBC’s decision to order mandatory lightweight contender Luke Campbell to meet Arum’s WBO/WBA lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko August 31 in London for the WBC’s vacant 135-pound belt.
“The “franchise” title “makes all the sense in the world. You have rules with mandatories to ensure all champions aren’t dodging their toughest competition, but you also have special fighters who are huge attractions, and you don’t want to burden them with mandatories against guys who can’t draw and don’t create the best possible fight,” Arum said.
“As long as something like this ‘franchise champion’ is invoked sparingly, I absolutely think it’s a wonderful idea because to have Canelo now being able to consider fighting any of these champions … forcing a mandatory fight against someone no one knows is absolutely insane for Canelo.”
Will others, like WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and a victorious Lomachenko, be able to gain it?
Arum thinks they should.
“Lomachenko shouldn’t be bothered with mandatories when he’s looking for unifications and the best fights out there,” he said. “(Arum fighter Tyson) Fury will fight Wilder in a rematch that the public badly wants to see. Don’t **** it up with a mandatory. That makes no sense.”
“The “franchise” title “makes all the sense in the world. You have rules with mandatories to ensure all champions aren’t dodging their toughest competition, but you also have special fighters who are huge attractions, and you don’t want to burden them with mandatories against guys who can’t draw and don’t create the best possible fight,” Arum said.
“As long as something like this ‘franchise champion’ is invoked sparingly, I absolutely think it’s a wonderful idea because to have Canelo now being able to consider fighting any of these champions … forcing a mandatory fight against someone no one knows is absolutely insane for Canelo.”
Will others, like WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and a victorious Lomachenko, be able to gain it?
Arum thinks they should.
“Lomachenko shouldn’t be bothered with mandatories when he’s looking for unifications and the best fights out there,” he said. “(Arum fighter Tyson) Fury will fight Wilder in a rematch that the public badly wants to see. Don’t **** it up with a mandatory. That makes no sense.”
‘It renders it all meaningless.’ Canelo Alvarez’s new ‘franchise champion’ title is the talk of the sport https://t.co/fposAhTM9U
— Lance Pugmire (@pugboxing) June 28, 2019
Comment