Round 12 with Mauricio Sulaimàn: The Boxer
By Mauricio Sulaimán
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 02 Aug 2025
Chihuas Rodriguez drops Galal Yafai.
To be a boxer requires a series of very special characteristics for this incredibly difficult and demanding activity.
They are warriors coming from humble beginnings and tough neighborhoods, where they grow up under constant social pressure. They have to resist and outwit the many temptations of the streets, avoiding taking a wrong path like addiction, drug dealing, or crime.
These young people arrive at a gym, and their lives change forever. They learn discipline, hard work, dedication, and therein, the opportunity to become someone in life. There, they find their trainer who becomes a mentor, who often takes on a paternal role, dedicating themselves to helping that young person become a champion.
They get used to obeying and are dedicated to executing without questioning their trainer. Later, other figures arrive who also have authority over them: nutrition, fitness and strength coaches, psychologist , chef, valet, security etc…. The more successful a fighter is, the more people make up their team. What doesn’t change, is that the fighter continues to follow everything they are told to do.
Boxing has some very well-identified delicate issues: weight and everything around it, nutrition and everything related to supplements, finances and aspects related to managing their money, and life outside the ring and gym, among others.
We have handled complex cases in recent weeks that relate to our constant attention and concern. It’s a fact that a fighter listens to what they are told and implicitly trusts the advice or instructions of their coaches, managers, and even friends.
Francisco “Chihuas” Rodríguez, a young man from Monterrey who has been in boxing for years, always dreamed of being a WBC champion. A few weeks ago, he comprehensively defeated interim champion Galal Yafai to make his dream a reality. Days later, we received a report from VADA with a positive doping test result. We held a series of discussions with the fighter and members of his team during the investigation, and it was resolved in the simplest and fairest way. Chihuas consumed prohibited substances through a supplement that someone recommended, which can be bought over the counter. The prohibited substances are listed on the label, and the fighter reported the list of products he was consuming to the collection agent who took his samples for the doping program, writing down everything he consumed in the way of supplements on the form, which means he didn't hide anything and it was plain ignorance and irresponsibility.
The fighter focuses on one thing…the boxing ring. He trains and fights, leaving everything else to others. The fighter is obedient and trusting, following instructions on how to train, what to eat, how much to run, and what vitamins to take. Fighters don’t question.
The problem here is that in reality the athlete is solely responsible for what goes into their body. Chihuas Rodríguez has lost his WBC world championship, due to unswerving trust, loyalty and obedience.
I write this column on Sundays for release on Monday at Heraldo daily newspaper in Mexico, it goes into translation and illustration for further publication on WBC site usually on Tuesdays. After it was published the WBC has learned that there was another adverse finding on Rodriquez from a December 2024 fight in Texas. The WBC CBP team will be investigating this matter and will report after the process is finalized.
We also have faced delicate cases regarding weight management, weight cutting and health problems related to this important topic.
WBC Silver middleweight champion Lázaro Lorenzana and also super lightweight Ángel Fierro, who was supposed to fight Pitbull Cruz, suffered the consequences of poor weight management, and both had to cancel their respective high profile fights.
During the final preparation to make weight, they experienced delicate medical conditions that led to hospitalization. Weight is the most important issue in boxing; it has always been and it will always be the fighter’s eternal enemy.
Many fighters manage their weight well. They don’t gain too much after fights, maintain a balanced diet, and lose weight gradually, in a healthy way.
Unfortunately, there are those who don’t do this, and there are those unethical and fraudulent “coaches “ who have devised risky and dangerous techniques to lose weight in a very short time..Short cuts to make the division limit with dangerous effects to the athletes' health.
There are people who deceive and delude themselves with very dangerous techniques that achieve the goal. The problem is when the body doesn’t react, goes into shock, and needs urgent medical attention, and the effects that these abuses will have later on the kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, and brain. These callous, cynical advisors, don’t care about anything but making weight and getting paid.
We know horror stories and some of the things they do to lose weight, even removing liters of blood! Savage and inhumane. We are on a crusade to combat these practices and achieve proper management of nutrition and everything related to weight. We need the support and cooperation of as many as possible to agrees this matter.
Did you know…?
Andy Kluger approached the WBC, and for four years, he has helped us create BoxMed, an application for everything related to weight control and other solutions to safeguard the fighter’s health. BoxMed is already mandatory for every champion and top 15 in the rankings. One of the actions within the application is that each boxer must upload a video demonstrating their current weight every 30 days, to monitor that they are not overweight even when they don’t have a fight scheduled. To learn more about BoxMed please click here …. https://wbc-boxmed.com/
Today’s Anecdote
My dad witnessed countless cases where fighters suffered due to weigh-in issues. “My son, ‘Ratón’ Macías stayed at bantamweight his entire career, there was no super bantam category so moving up to feather made him give too much advantage; his stomach shrunk to such an extent that even after retiring, he couldn’t eat even if he wanted to.” “‘Púas’ Olivares got out of bed and drank a pitcher of water out of desperation the night before the weigh-in, in those days the official weigh in was just hours before the fight; Water made him gain 6 pounds and he suffered greatly the next day under the sun in Mexicali, in a car with the heater on and bundled in up to five layers of clothes.” Don José and the WBC have achieved the biggest changes in the rules to address the issue. Intermediate divisions have been created so that fighters can move up without giving away too much advantage.
The weigh-in is the day before, so they can rehydrate and for the brain to generate cerebrospinal fluid for the fighter’s protection. Mandatory weigh-ins have been implemented 30, 14, and seven days before the fight, and many other measures, but we remain more vigilant than ever to protect the physical integrity of those who step into the ring.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Mauricio Sulaimán.
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