The WBC celebrates the birthday of our friend and teacher Don Víctor Cota

 Today on a rare “Coffee Wednesday” the WBC and all who love Boxing, celebrated the birthday of the great, the popular, the respected, the urbane, the astute font of all boxing knowledge, wisdom and good humour Don Víctor Cota León,  who for more than 40 years has been the director of communication, history and statistics of the WBC…who else?!

Don Victor first saw the light of day on March 1, 1935 in La Paz, Baja California, the land where he was born. The son of Melchor Cota and Elvira Léon.

 With a love of books, ink and the desire to discover the world, he left his homeland determined to follow his dreams. The great Mexico City awaited him! Don Víctor, studied Law at the UNAM; However, his destiny was not flighted or fated as a legal eagle, because before he was 20 years old, he discovered his true vocation, in sports journalism.

There he realized that he had a special gift and talent to tell stories, which led him to the great arenas and to meet many of the now boxing legends, Willie Pep his greatest idol, although Sugar Ray Robinson and Julio César Chávez are also among his special favorites.

Don Victor`s passion and knowledge led him to the newspaper La Afición, where he shaped his career as a sports journalist working for more than 36 years and later excelled for seven years at the ESTO newspaper.

Later he was fully integrated into the WBC, becoming not only the storyteller and statistician, but also one of the most important pillars of its Brains Trust. He was always by the side of Don José Sulaimán with whom he has developed a close, loyal,, trusted and lasting friendship.

Don Victor is recognized by all his friends as a person who always conducts himself with humility, sharing his knowledge, with an excellent, mischievous, chuckling sense of humor, faithful to his ideals and the WBC,  that he considers to be his second home. He is a cultivated, intelligent connoisseur of history, culture, “Good spellinge,” animals, geography, automobiles, although he is never seen driving at more than 100 km per hour.

 Winner of various awards and recognitions; member of the Canastota Hall of Fame Committee, awarded by the Senate of the Mexican Republic with the “Dr. José Sulaimán Chagnón” glittering prize, for his magnificent  career and unequalled contribution to sports journalism, which also led him to be recognized and immortalized in a gym that bears his name in the San José El Salado neighborhood, Los Reyes la Paz municipality, Baja California.

They well say that successful people are known and admired for everything they have done in their lives. Some are recognized for their skills and talents, while others are distinguished by their value, but something that they all have in common is their great ability to inspire others, Don Víctor is one of those people, not only a legend for his great intellectual capacity, but because of the way he runs his life, recognizing that the more you thank and celebrate all of its aspects, the more reasons there will be to be joyful. 

Congratulations, Don Víctor! Thank you…especially for the homework.  

Even after Cafe Time was quenched,  the Congratulations, chats, cheering and applause kept pouring in.  Observant, grateful, yet forever modest, Don Victor thanked each and every one of his many, many friends.