By Mauricio Sulaimán – WBC President – Son of José Sulaimán

 The Riyadh Season WBC Boxing  Grand Prix, the professional boxing World Cup, is proving to be magnificent.

Don José’s classic expression, “¡Qué bárbaro!” or “¡Qué barbaridad!”, said it all. It meant there was great excitement behind what was happening. When my father said it, we all paid attention to hear what he would tell us or what was happening to grab his full attention. That’s why I say with great emotion, “Incredible!” This Grand Prix is a total success.

Saturday marked the conclusion of the second phase of the Grand Prix, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There were 32 qualifying bouts plus 3 involving reserve boxers, all within a 2-day period. Sixteen fighters in each of the four divisions stepped into the ring, aiming to advance to the quarterfinals in August.

This is pure boxing at the highest level. All the boxers are going all out, and the vast majority of the fights have been very good.

Fighters from all over the world have found an opportunity to shine, and I’m sure several of them will become world champions in the future.

The second phase coincided with the kick-off press conference for the fight between Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Terence Crawford. The fight was officially announced there, and they immediately flew for press conferences in New York and then Las Vegas.

The undefeated American faces Canelo with credentials that establish him as one of the greatest challenges for the Aztec pugilist. Crawford is undefeated in 44 fights and has been an undisputed champion at super lightweight and welterweight.

The rivalry between Mexicans and Americans is undoubtedly an ingredient that will give this fight unparalleled interest. From “Pulgarcito” Ramos, who had Joe Frazier on the brink of a knockout in the second round of that historic encounter for the WBC heavyweight world championship, to Chávez’s dramatic knockout of Meldrick Taylor with only two seconds left in the fight; Randall knocking down the great Mexican champion Julio César Chávez and defeating him after 90 undefeated fights; Junior Jones knocking out Barrera and Erik Morales avenging Mexican boxing, and so many more fights…

Last weekend, after almost 10 years of winning a strawweight championship,  Francisco “Chihuas” Rodríguez became a world champion again by snatching the WBC interim flyweight title from Britain’s Galal Yafai by unanimous decision; Yafai was mandated to fight the mandatory contender, Rodriguez and the fight proved to be phenomenal; Mandatory contenders must always be of the highest quality possible and the WBC will continue to enforce such principle and not to mandate fights simply for the process.

This upcoming weekend, our former WBC world champion, Julio César Chávez Jr., will face social media sensation Jake Paul, headlining a card in Las Vegas that will be broadcast live on dazn.com/WBC.

The Amazing Muay Thai World Festival will be held from June 25 to 29, 2025, in the historic city of Verona, Italy. This emblematic event will unite the global Muay Thai community, with over 1600 registered participants and an extraordinary 860 fighters competing for the glory of the WBC Muay Thai World Championship in the elite amateur and professional divisions.

Don José always supported “Chihuas” Rodríguez. From the beginning, he advocated for him to win his first affiliate championship, the NABF title, in April 2013, defeating Iván Rodríguez. My father used to say that Chihuas worked in a nursing home, and that day, they stayed up late to watch the fight and saw him crowned.

A reporter from Monterrey asked Don José to give the young man an opportunity for a WBC affiliate championship because he had great abilities and was a great prospect for Mexican boxing. Now, 15 years later, his effort is crowned with the WBC world title.

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