Remembering Don Jose

By James Blears

It`s hard to believe that it`s ten years since Jose Sulaiman passed away, such was the unique aura he generated.

Perhaps part of it is that none of us are getting any younger. For the Old, the days pass slowly, yet the years pass quickly, and it seems almost unbelievable that a decade has flashed by so fast.

In what was to be his final Martes a Café prior to going for heart surgery at UCLA, Don Jose smiled and said that he hoped it would give him another ten active and productive years, because there`s always and forever so much more which needs to be done. It was not to be… and we lost an All Time Great.

Those of us who were lucky enough to know him well, marveled at his consummate and energetic communication skills. Jose Sulaiman had a PHD in people. So many from all walks of life can acclaim and confirm that. He was equally at home, happy and content chatting with a duke or a dustman. A Pope or an atheist.

On the fifth floor of the office in Zona Rosa, the shoeshine man used to put newspaper on the floor for Don Jose`s feet and then polish his shoes. The two were ensconced in animated conversation, chatting ten to the dozen and then Don Jose gave about three times the going rate for the shoeshine. That was the essence of the man. What a man!

Ten years on, I wonder what Don Jose would make of today`s Boxing landscape? He loved reminiscing, but was also restless, seeking change for the future and with it improvement. He was passionately concerned with HIS people, namely the boxers. He tried with all of his enabling might to improve their lot, and make sure that after retirement and in their twilight years they were well taken care of and not forgotten or discarded, after the bright lights had faded to a glow and then a mere faltering flicker.

It haunted him that in the past some old and gnarled boxers were muttering to themselves and shadow boxing against imagined opponents. He fought hard and with the help of business tycoon Carlos Slim, as well as luxury watch company Hublot, via which a huge charity auction started and financed an aid program. The independently administered Jose Sulaiman Fund.

The uniformed uncharitably claimed that he helped create intermediate weight categories to garner more sanction fees. The actual truth was that he worried and he fretted about boxers making inhuman sacrifices in order to somehow make the weight. Days of starvation, followed by seemingly never ending nights of raging thirst with only the solace of an ice cube, to slake raging cravings.

So instead of the weigh in ceremony on the day of the fight, it evolved to twenty four hours before fight night, enabling boxers to rehydrate and get into the ring well nourished, ready to give all of us non- combatant fans their absolute all with a great show involving skills, and courage, fortified by proper nutrition.

This has helped countless boxers avoid serious injury or even worse. The awful fate which befell Jimmy Garcia, who had to lose mountains of weight rather than parcels of it, before that fateful bout which cost him his very life. Since then weight is also monitored a month, a week and three days prior to the bout, so excessive weight loss, all at the last moment is avoided.

Every January, there`s a service of remembrance and gratitude for the life and times of Jose Sulaiman Chagnon in the original Basilica of Guadalupe. An old, hunched, massive colonial structure which is uneven and lopsided due to underlying foundations overlaying the soft soil strata below, as Mexico City is built on an old lake bed.

People who come to the event from all over the world, are wrapped up, warmly clad, because although beams of bright sunlight stream through the huge, weathered oak doors, there`s a seasonal chill in the air. It`s fascinating to listen to the fabled tales and anecdotes of his loyal friends. Often as not there are new accounts about how he helped people without acclaim, headlines or fanfare. He was keenly aware that those he assisted are proud folk and would be deeply embarrassed, if it became public. So, the charity he offered from his own pocket was a private matter between him and them. That was the measure of the man. As has been said, Jose Sulaiman was more than a man.

The job of President which Jose Sulaiman faithfully fulfilled for more than thirty eight years involved three hundred and sixty five days of commitment, day by day, day and night. Wife Dona Martha would invariably make him a meal in the middle of the night. He never refused to take a call no matter what the hour from all over the world, to resolve any manner of problem or issue.

In also being unanimously elected President, his youngest son Mauricio knew, understood, and appreciated that he was taking on a lifelong commitment. A responsibility which has to be balanced with family life. Mauricio has magnificently honored the legacy of his beloved father. From early childhood he learned the lessons which would prepare him for this extraordinary and demanding task. A challenge is being fulfilled.

So many developments, innovations and improvements have been put in place. One current idea which is becoming reality is a proposal to ask boxers to contribute an individually agreed part of their purses, to then be put into a fund, which will become available when they retire, so they have a nest egg to fall back on, in order to maintain a decent lifestyle.

The Bridgerweight division has been created to help what used to be smaller heavyweights so they don`t have to span the huge weight disparity as newer generations of heavyweights are so much more massive than their predecessors.

The annual Conventions of the World Boxing Council, embrace far flung nations. Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan because they are upcoming powerhouses of boxing, which need recognition, inspiration and encouragement.

Throughout his life, Jose Sulaiman was a traveler and on those travels, he took a camera with him. So many photos from all corners of the world, capturing special moments. One I particularly remember was of a Buddhist priest who seemed rather annoyed he`d been snapped. His cross expression seems to suggest: “If there`s any forgiving to be done, then I`ll do it!

Aptly, at the service in the Cathedral there`s a photo of Don Jose, which takes pride of place. He`s gone from this world, but he`ll never be forgotten. Often as his press conferences, you`d feel a hand on your shoulder, turn look up and he say: “Hello my dear friend. Welcome!” That was who Jose Sulaiman was and forever is.