By Miguel Rivera
During his weekly meeting with the press, World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman was asked for his opinion regarding the latest rant from retired pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26KOs).
In his most recent interview with Fighthype, Mayweather was critical of what he sees as favoritism for certain athletes in boxing, and MMA, and blamed it on racism. He feels athletes likes Ronda Rousey, Gennady Golovkin and Connor McGregor - who are white - are presented with a larger spotlight and receive favoritism due to their skin color while athletes like Andre Ward and Laila Ali - who are black and viewed as being more talented by Mayweather - have not received the same type of treatment.
Sulaiman was not entirely clear on Mayweather's exact comments, which went viral with the media, but stated that his organization is going everything in their power to battle racism by allowing boxers of all walks of life the opportunity to fight for their world titles and penalizing those who overstep racial boundaries.
"I am not entirely clear on what Mayweather said, but I am positive that we are doing everything possible to prevent racism in boxing - by ensuring the neutrality of the judges, to ensure there are opportunities for everyone- and in turn that's why we punished Chris Arreola and Adrien Broner for their racist comments. And the absolute proof that racism is running out is displayed in the fact that the fighter [to earn] the biggest purse in the history of the boxing is Floyd Mayweather [$300 million for Manny Pacquiao]," said Sulaiman to ESPN Deportes.
