By Mauricio Sulaiman Son of Jose Sulaiman – President of the CMBq
The intense rivalry between two great world boxing champions has come to an end. The Mexican Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and the Kazakh Gennady “GGG” Golovkin celebrated the trilogy that resulted in the victory of our great champion and Pride of Mexico.
Thirty-six rounds of dedication, courage, passion and glory. Three fights, one draw and two wins for Canelo. That white heat of competition ended when the bell rang, and the greatness of this sport remains whole and intact, demonstrating humility melting into a heartfelt embrace full of respect and mutual recognition. If everything in life was like boxing, it would be a different world than we live in.
We live a weekend in which Mexico celebrated with joy, after two years without a transcendental event in Las Vegas due to the pandemic. But the Boxing Capital got up again dressed in green, white and red. Alejandro Fernández was a great representative with his moving performance in his two sold-out concerts and his big surprise came when he appeared in the dressing room to do the ring walk singing along with Canelo.
On Friday night, another ambassador from our country, Carlos Santana, looked wonderful. His music is delightful and Karl Perazzo’s percussions, together with the drummer, who is Santana’s wife, make music for eternity. On Friday at the end of the show, Santana received a replica of the Guerrero Jaguar Zapotec belt, that work of art of the magnificent Oaxacan culture, which marked this event as a gift from Mexico and the World Boxing Council to the world.
Julio Cesar Chavez remains a tremendous draw for fans as throngs of people seek him out for photos or autographs, and he, as always, is ready to be with his loyal fans. How wonderful is Julio, The Great Mexican Champion.
For me it was an unforgettable trip. My Dad was more present than ever, because the number of people who approached me and most of them either called me José or gave me nice words of remembrance of my dear father.
The migrants who left Mexico for the United States began the special celebrations on two specific dates, May 5 and September 16, with that nostalgia and eternal love for their homeland, for their roots, they began to celebrate and over time boxing began to be part of the festivities It was in 1972 when the first Mexican warrior was crowned in the midst of these festivities. Gabriel Cordero published remembering this historical fact, when Erubey “Chango” Carmona defeated the then WBC champion, Mando Ramos.
Thus, little by little, for 50 years the best fights have been taking place on these two dates. Salvador Sánchez, Julio César Chávez, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Márquez, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, dignified these dates until THE current KING arrived, Canelo Álvarez, who has starred in great fights in honor to our festivities
Canelo is a boxer who has grown impressively. A shy, red-haired, freckled boy from a large and humble family, he came to the boxing gym looking for those who would help him build his destiny and legacy: Chepo Reynoso and his son, Eddy Reynoso.
They took him under their wing from the age of 14 and made his professional debut when they saw that there was no structure in Mexico to seek an Olympic medal. Canelo was always fearless, taking on whoever got in front of him. He eventually began to get noticed for his natural charisma and when he got on television, he became a phenomenon.
Successful people experience many things that form their character. Canelo was a boxer for Televisa and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for TVAzteca, the two most important television channels in Mexico. A great rivalry arose. Canelo was crowned WBC Super Welterweight Champion and Chavez was crowned WBC Middleweight Champion. The rest is history, they both took very different paths in life.
Over the years, Canelo has had to face criticism few could have withstood. He suffered a setback losing to Floyd Mayweather, and very few would have been able to come back and get back on top. Canelo matured and flourished as a boxer and as a person and is an example to all of how with dedication, passion and focus you can become great in life.
He is one of the most professional and disciplined boxers I can remember. He always returns to the gym the week after the fight and his work habits have not changed, he has never lost his humility, and his loyalty to the Reynosos, who together led him to glory. Eddy has been Coach of the Year on several occasions, and it goes without saying all the awards that Saúl has won.
It was wonderful to experience the atmosphere at T-Mobile Arena. A full house that celebrated the triumph of the Mexican and recognized the greatness of GGG. So many nights of glory that boxing has given Mexico, this sport in which we are a world reference, which has given Mexico 13 Olympic medals and more than 200 world champions. Mexico has boxing as a sport of national heritage.
did you know
One of the great fights on these national dates was when Floyd Mayweather, who was the WBC welterweight champion, came up to challenge the WBC super welterweight world champion, none other than Oscar de la Hoya.
It was an electric environment for a long-awaited fight. To everyone’s surprise, Floyd came out wearing the green, white and red colors of the Mexican flag and the traditional mariachi hat. That night, Floyd won over the Mexican fans. It was a great fight that was defined by a split decision in favor of Floyd, managing to conquer glory and thus take the baton from Oscar.
Today’s story…
My dad loved Canelo very much. Since he met him he had a special affection for him and always tried to give him advice and opened the WBC platform to him.
From the youth world championship, Latin championship, North America (NABF), Silver, to being crowned WBC world champion.
Canelo was the first member of the program created by Don Carlos Slim and my father, Ring Telmex-Telcel, which will celebrate 15 years of providing support to promising young boxers, so that they dedicate themselves fully to this tough sport, having economic conditions and structural support to get this far. This program has already created 19 world champions!
My dad always went out to defend his Canelito against all kinds of criticism and was very happy to see how he reached stardom.
On one occasion, at our traditional family Sunday dinners, my brother Hector asked him what he saw in that freckled boy. “My son, Canelo is going to be the next great idol in Mexico, a superstar. He is starting to have good fights, he still has things to learn, but he is on the right track, and he has that look in his eyes that only the great ones have. He is very brave and has an iron jaw. You will see. Well, pass me a red sauce “memela” they are great!”
I welcome your feedback at [email protected].
The post Round 12 with Mauricio Sulaiman: Long live Mexico, Canelones! first appeared on fightnews.com.
Share This Event