WBC, ELORDE BLAME EACH OTHER FOR VISA PROBLEMS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 06 Jun 2008
WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman has blamed Gabriel ?Bebot? Elorde Jr for ?having made us suffer a lot by making many mistakes? which delayed the grant of visas to the party of Juanito Rubillar (45-10-7, 22 KO?s) who fights former world champion Omar ?Giant Killer? Nino (25-2-1, 11 KO?s) in a title eliminator in Mexico City on June 14.
Sulaiman told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that the WBC was able to get the visas ?only today and everything is okay now.?
However, Elorde said ?it was not us but the Mexicans who made the mistakes. We did what they told us to. You know how it is with the Mexicans.? Elorde disclosed they were scheduled to pick up their visas at the Mexican Embassy at 3:00 p.m. Thursday.
The WBC president also didn?t hide his displeasure over Elorde?s insistence on bringing close friend and journalist Rey Danseco as a judge for the fight despite Sulaiman?s assurance he would not appoint any Mexican judges and would get judges from the U.S. to dispel Elorde?s concerns of a hometown decision.
Sulaiman said ?I am very unhappy about it? even as he remarked that he knew of the relationship between Elorde and his chosen judge. Here again Elorde said he insisted on Danseco to make sure that the Filipino boxer?s interests are protected noting that while the judges picked by the WBC may be Americans by nationality, they are usually Hispanics and tend to favor the hometown fighter.
Sulaiman disclosed that Omar Nino was working very hard because has not been fighting for a long time.? His last fight was a rematch with Brian Viloria on November 18, 2006 which Omar Nino won on the scorecards of the judges but was declared a ?no decision? after the Mexican tested positive for a banned substance in a post-fight drug test. Omar Nino won the title by a lopsided unanimous decision over Viloria on August 10, 2006.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Smarts over power
By Joaquin Henson, Tue, 16 Sep 2025HALL OF FAME FLIES FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION RICKY HATTON
Tue, 16 Sep 2025Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 thanks to victory in the final bout of the competition
Tue, 16 Sep 2025THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 13: JOE FRAZIER’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AS AN AMATEUR FIGHTER
By Maloney L. Samaco, Mon, 15 Sep 2025A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
By Dong Secuya, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
Mon, 15 Sep 202521-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
By Marlon Bernardino, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
By Carlos Costa, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 14 Sep 2025A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
Sun, 14 Sep 2025Battle of Undefeated: Callum Walsh Vanquishes Fernando Vargas Jr.
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025