The Annual Convention of the Federation of Boxing Commissions of the Mexican Republic (FECOMBOX) was a resounding success with  Aguascalientes as the host city, where 300 people gathered to work on a wide range of topics.

The goal was to unify criteria, training, and certification, but most importantly, to continue working to maximize the protection of everyone who steps into the ring.

The President of the association, Juan Carlos Pelayo from Tijuana, achieved great synergy with WBC University and its Director, Xóchitl Lagarda, creating a convention with highly interesting presentations. We had representatives from all 32 states, as well as from Italy, Guatemala, Peru, the United States, Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, and Argentina.

Boxing is the only sport that must be regulated by a governmental entity (a boxing commission). It is a contact sport, and a great number of rules must be complied with. A commission is composed of a president and a group of commissioners: a head of medical services and their doctors, inspectors, judges, referees, a timekeeper, and other areas, depending on the size and activity of the commission.

They issue licenses to fighters after they pass medical exams, evaluations, and tryouts. They issue permits for fighters hired to compete outside their jurisdiction and sanction boxing events, during which many activities are observed. They approve the fights proposed by promoters, review each fighter and their documentation, appoint judges and referees, administer mandatory medical services (paramedics and ambulances), certify the weigh-in, and validate the results for official records.

This is how this works. It is important that commissioners are trained and that there is uniformity in the rules. That is why this Convention is of the utmost importance. I am proud of all who attended, as they demonstrated great capability and dedicated themselves body and soul to the work.

FECOMBOX has introduced its national championship, and in Aguascalientes, a boxing card was promoted by our friend Gerry Saldívar with BXSTRS and broadcast in 27 countries on ESPN Knockout.

Some of the main topics covered were: a practical clinic on treating knocked-out boxers, a bandaging clinic, a dental clinic, facial trauma, a practical resuscitation workshop, a judges and scoring criteria workshop, a referees and key mechanics clinic, a center-of-the-ring clinic, a presentation on technology, and a concentration exercise.

One of the topics I presented was the practice of contact events, many of which are clandestine: bare-knuckle fights, no-rules fights, and a large number of other modalities that border on barbarism. We have initiated a crusade to stop this, as it has a terrible effect on society by promoting violence and brutality.

There are requests on social media for financial aid for those who are victims of these circumstances, harmed by all the mercenaries who put on these events. I invite you to join us by reporting these activities. Alert the authorities, contact us, and let’s stop these criminal acts.

I had the pleasure of meeting María Teresa Jiménez Esquivel, the governor of Aguascalientes, who impressed me with her passion for sports, but even more so with her tangible actions. She has turned her state into a hub of physical activity with nurturing support for athletes. We shared ideas to establish programs, as well as the possibility of creating a state commission. Highly committed individuals were present: Arturo Fernández, the state sports director; Deputy Jetsi Sánchez; promoter Gerardo Saldívar; the WBC representative for the state, Cristian Garduño (Rocko); and Pelayo.

FECOMBOX was founded by Don José Sulaimán and a group of commissioners from the Republic. They were his loyal life companions who for years shared principles and values with the purpose of uniting the commissions to protect fighters. His dear friends included Carlos González Hinojosa from Reynosa; Omar Mintun, Miguel Acuña, Luis Escalona, and Doctor Ortega from Tamaulipas; Juan Jose Herrera Ornelas from the State of Mexico; Juan José Torres Landa and Carlos Aguilar from Querétaro; José Manzur from Mérida; Lorenzo Soberanes from Chihuahua; and so many other cherished friends and life companions.

I had to write this column sitting in the London airport, waiting for my connection to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Once again, I’m missing a family celebration—my beloved brother Héctor’s birthday. Known to everyone as “Güero,” he has always had an outstanding personality. My parents arrived in Mexico City from Ciudad Victoria with Pepe and Lucy, and Héctor and Fernando were on the way. As children, they would play: Pepe was the dad, Lucy was the mom, and Héctor… was the dog.

He was always and will always be different. He was feared in baseball for his power at bat and his unusually fast pitching in the Little Leagues. He was always a dreamer, always active, always a winner, but the most important thing is that behind that personality and impressive image is a simple, humble, loving person who is dedicated to serving unconditionally.

My father would proudly tell us, “The day your brother Güero hit the home run in the last inning with three balls, two strikes, and two outs, against the wildest pitcher in the Tolteca League, to win the game, was one of the happiest days of my life. But, oh, what a kid! Instead of celebrating the hit, he came running to ask me if I had seen how the ball hit the scoreboard and knocked all the numbers down.”