WBC President eyes tournaments to crown sole champions
World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman has expressed his desire to hold a competition between the current world title holders in order to crown one sole champion in each of the seventeen divisions.
Speaking to WBN recently, Sulaiman stated that the idea is still in its infancy, but that we wants the other organisations to at least agree to an initial tournament so that the fans can see who the best fighter currently is in each weight class.
“We are trying to do a Tournament of Champions to get the champions of the organisations to fight each other and that way we give to the public the fights they want to see and determine one world champion,” Sulaiman exclusively told World Boxing News.
“We are just trying to move it along. Every organisation has their own rules, their own agenda but we are just trying
to get a tournament going for the fans.”
Asked whether ultimately he wanted to have just one organisation and one sole champion down the line, Sulaiman explained that this wasn’t the case and it would just be a standout event all on its own if all sides accept the proposal.
“Yes, just a tournament of champions and then crown one champion. Then, the other organisations can then continue on with their own champions,” he said.
There are currently up to seven or eight recognised champions in any division due to ‘super’ titles, interim and champion emeritus statuses, which is something that irks the boxing purists who believe there are too many belts in circulation.
Titles are an essential selling point when it comes to generating interest in pay-per-view, plus deciding who the top pound for pound stars in the world are and it doesn’t seem likely that any of the current bodies would be willing to cut the total.
Sanctioning fees for championships are a lucrative part of the business side of the sport and have been for many years, so a unification tournament seems the only viable way to have one ruler take the mantle at the top – even if it’s only for a short period of time.
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