62 years of the WBC: Some contributions to benefit boxing

Don José Sulaimán was at the head of the WBC for thirty-eight years and was a key player in the transformation of the sport.

His youngest son, Mauricio Sulaiman, was unanimously elected president and has led the WBC since 2014, continuing the hard work for the benefit of boxers.

The many achievements of the WBC have changed the face of boxing, focusing on the safety and well-being of the protagonists.

The World Boxing Council will celebrate its 62nd anniversary on February 14 and today we remember some of the achievements of our organization:

World championship fights were reduced from 15 to 12 rounds, a measure that was endorsed by the WBC Board of Governors, which has resulted in fewer misfortunes for fighters.

The weigh-in 24 hours before the fight. This initiative benefited those who entered the ring without any recovery when they were weighed in on the day of the fight, which also caused a significant number of fatal accidents.

Intermediate divisions were created, which increased the number of champions and opportunities for boxers, in addition to avoiding extreme sacrifice when marking the weight.

Work has been done with multiple boxing commissions to implement the use of instant replay, which avoids controversial decisions in fights.

Open scoring has been promoted, which announces the cards after four and eight rounds, giving a different meaning to a boxing fight, knowing that one fighter has a certain advantage or the other is at a disadvantage, trying to come back.

The “José Sulaimán Fund” was created to support boxers and ex-boxers from all over the world who are going through bad economic times.