By Mauricio Sulaimán – son of José Sulaimán – President of the WBC
A whirlwind trip to Panama which was worth everything.
I left early on Friday to Panama to be present at the tribute that this boxing country paid to the immortal Manos de Piedra Durán, Roberto Durán. I returned home early on Saturday, I was not even there for 24 hours but every minute was worth gold in what was an unforgettable trip.
When I was a child of only twelve years old, I had the great honor of representing Mexico in the Little League Baseball World Cup, which was played in none other than Panama. When I landed, memories invaded my mind and heart. Our national team was of a high level and players from México City were only a few, among them my great friend Félix Aguirre who is now the director of the Aztec Stadium.
We finished in fourth place behind Colombia, the Dominican Republic and the champion Venezuela.
My mom traveled with me. Only a couple of other moms went, and obviously my teammates made fun of me from day one, teasing and even bullying me as mommy’s boy, but they forgot all about it, when Dona Martha invited the whole team to a great meal at a Mexican restaurant in Panama.
My dad arrived halfway through the tournament and was present at two games. My best performance was against Costa Rica when my dad was there. He came to the stands accompanied by Yamil Chade and the great Panamanian promoter Luis Espada and other boxing people who didn’t believe that Don José was there in the stands. I batted 2 doubles and a single, played the whole game in first base and we won the game.
2 days later we had to play the semi-final against Panama, imagine, a full stadium, great pressure, my dad in the stands with Duran, Hilario Zapata, Pinder and other champions who came to accompany him. That day left a mark on me forever, one of the strongest lessons in my life. We had a wonderful game, we beat the home team against all expectations, we won 8-0 without the least problems; What was a huge blow to me was that they left me on the bench the whole game; not even a chance as a pinch hitter, nothing. I kept looking to the stands with anguish and shame to see my dad.
When the game was over he ran to me. I didn’t want to look at his face. He picked me up and hugged me, congratulated me and made me feel as if I had hit the winning homerun in the World Series… Why did the manager of Mexicali, La Colorada Sanchez, humiliate me like that? I will never know, but that day I managed to understand the value of teamwork, of leaving the ego buried and forgetting the protagonism and presumption. That day I won, we won, even when I was on the bench and Mexico advanced to the finals.
Panama is a great country, boxing is very popular and Roberto Duran is an Icon in his country. How wonderful to be recognized in life. He is loved all over the place, there are no rules or laws for Duran, he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants.
As I was arriving at the stadium, the traditional boxing arena, it was my first note of attention… Roberto Duran Stadium, imagine having a venue in your name… The public came in throngs to enjoy a very good boxing evening with international fights. It was the debut of Duran’s sons as promoters; Brambi Promotions and they did very well.
When the time came for the tribute, Duran went to the locker room and that’s where it all started, he left the locker room as if he were going to the ring to fight. Over his tuxedo he was wearing a beautiful boxing robe, this was a gift that the WBC gave him.
This robe was made by La Chacala Valverde and it is a jewel. Duran walked around the floor greeting the fans just as the Olympic lap in the stadiums, band music, lights and special effects until he finally got into the ring looking with joy and tears in his eyes at what was happening.
There were some speeches, words and awards; I was so proud to give him a commemorative belt, the new WBC edition to recognize the merits of legendary champions; a beautiful belt with emeralds and the legend My Blood is Green and my Heart is Gold.
The greats of sport have some things in common and I was able to testify more than ever to Duran’s greatness; He did not refuse any photograph, he gave all the autographs that were requested. He arrived early and was the last to leave, he extended his hand to whoever approached him and managed to make everyone who greeted and hugged him feel special. Long live Roberto Manos de Piedra Duran.
I had the opportunity to meet with members of the WBC governing board, Alberto Guerra and Jimmy Salas, and we reached tremendous conclusions to activate in Panama in 2025. We will be doing a WBC Cares day with important activations in conjunction with Pan Deporte. We also agreed on the Latin American Boxing Summit in Mexico where, in addition to boxing agreements, we will pay a well-deserved tribute to the great boxing commissioners of the past.
One of my favorite restaurants in the world is La Casa del Marisco in Panama. There I enjoyed the famous Cangrejo Centoyo in the company of Daniel Alonso, a great conversationalist and boxing historian and loyal companion of my dear Juan Carlos Tapia, who is just celebrating the 50th anniversary of the program The Best of Boxing.
Did you know that…
Joe Cortez was the Referee for Roberto Duran’s last great feat, that night when he beat Iran Barkley, who had knocked out Tommy Hearns. Joe came to Panama with his wife Sylvia to be part of this emotional tribute.
Anecdote of today…
In 1980 Sugar Ray Leonard was the top star of world boxing, WBC welterweight champion; Roberto Duran left the lightweight championship to seek the welterweight championship. When everything was ready for Leonard vs Duran, the WBA tried to make a move and pull Duran through its organization to fight Pipino Cuevas… “When I found out about this trap they were trying to pull, I picked up the phone and called General Torrijos of Panama to explain how they wanted to take away Duran’s glory.
The general asked me to call him the next day… with a call to the Panamanian leader who had gotten involved in this scheme. In minutes it was announced that the WBA was stepping aside; Duran arrived in Montreal and won the love of the people, intimidated Leonard wherever he saw him and in the ring he snatched the championship from him in one of the greatest fights in history. Duran always a great fighter” Don Jose told us, with a smile of pride and satisfaction.
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