José Sulaimán
José Sulaimán Chagnón (born May 30, 1931 in Ciudad Victoria , Tamaulipas , Mexico , † January 16, 2014 in Los Angeles , California , USA ) was a Mexican sports official and from 1975 to 2014, president of the World Boxing Council for over 38 years ( WBC).
In 2001 he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame and in 2007 into the International Boxing Hall of Fame . According to the Guinness Book of Records , he was the longest- serving president of a sports association in the world
Career
José Sulaimán was born in Mexico in 1931 to a Syrian mother and a Lebanese father. Starting as an amateur boxer, he then worked as a boxing trainer, promoter, referee and point judge before he was elected President of the WBC on December 5, 1975, to which he had been a member since 1968. In 1983, under his leadership, the maximum number of rounds in boxing matches was reduced from 15 to 12, a rule that has also been adopted by all other boxing associations. The reason for this was the tragic death of Kim Duk-koo in the fight against Ray Mancini in November 1982, which also resulted in the suicide of Kim's mother and the referee Richard Greene.
Sulaimán also introduced other new regulations to increase safety for the boxers. This included moving the last weigh-in from the day of the fight to the day before to prevent dehydration of the athletes. Other changes included the introduction of boxing gloves with recesses for the thumbs, the introduction of new weight classes, mandatory medical examinations before and after the fights and investments in the medical field, in particular to be able to identify and treat brain injuries more quickly.
Criticism and scandals
He was criticized, among other things, for his close cooperation with Don King and the resulting corruption allegations. Managers and promoters such as Mickey Duff (1929–2014), Lou Duva and Shelly Finkel have repeatedly expressed the public opinion that Don King and José Sulaimán manipulated fights in order to expand their influence. One of the most famous examples is the fight between Pernell Whitaker and José Ramírez in March 1988.
Further points of conflict were his apparent preference for Mexican boxers for title fights and some controversial title withdrawals (e.g. Leon Spinks 1978 and Graciano Rocchigiani 2000).
death
The father of six children had had heart problems for a long time and had to undergo bypass surgery in October 2013 . He did not recover from serious complications on December 30, 2013 and died in 2014 at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 82 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Biografia de Jose Sulaiman ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jose Sulaiman on BoxRec Encyclopedia
- ^ WBC President has passed away, T-online
- ^ Hall of Famer Jose Sulaiman dies
- ^ Jose Sulaiman, World Boxing Council
- ↑ Jose Ramirez vs. Pernell Whitaker on BoxRec
- ↑ WBC President Jose Sulaiman has passed away
- ↑ President of World Boxing Council Jose Sulaiman dies at 82 years old ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sulaimán, José |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sulaimán Chagnón, José (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Mexican boxing promoter and President of the World Boxing Council (WBC) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 30, 1931 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ciudad Victoria , Tamaulipas , Mexico |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 16, 2014 |
| Place of death | Los Angeles , California , USA |