SULAIMAN CLAIMS TITLE SHOT FOR CUELLO WAS NOT A COMMITMENT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 31 Mar 2011
While he concedes that minimumweight Denver Cuello is a ?great fighter who c an become a champion,? WBC executive secretary Mauricio Sulaiman says the WBC and he himself ?in good faith assured Cuello?s manager (Aljoe Jaro) that Cuello will get his opportunity for the title but it has never been an official commitment.?
Sulaiman told the Inquirer that the title shot was ?a good faith, positive comment.?
The WBC executive noted that the world organization had supported Cuello in his bid to fight Juan Hernandez in a final elimination bout on May 22 last year in Mexico. He said ?after he was knocked down Cuello came back and he was very successful. Unfortunately he committed a terrible foul hitting Hernandez when he was down and was correctly disqualified,? in the third round.
Sulaiman said the WBC ?once again supported him and didn?t suspend him as that was the recommendation of the local commission and also by the WBC Disciplinary Committee.? He added that Cuello is a top-rated fighter and the WBC continues to support him.
The WBC executive secretary said the new champion Kazuto Ioka (7-0, 5 KO?s) of Japan will fight Hernandez (18-1, 13 KO?s) who is ranked No. 1 sometime soon.
Also one notch ahead of Cuello in the rankings is Ganigan Lopez, the Silver champion, who is ranked No. 2 with Cuello at No. 3 and former champion Oleydong Sithsamerchai who lost by a 5th round TKO to Ioka at No. 4.
Cuello is coming off a 9th round TKO win over Thailand?s tough Samartlek Chaiyonggym to retain his WBC International title which prompted his manager to hope that the WBC gives him a title shot.
Reacting to a statement by Aljoe Jaro that he would campaign for a title shot in another organization should he not be given a title crack at the winner of the Ioka-Hernandez bout Sulaiman said ?Cuello is free to choose the best for h is career and if he chooses to fight for another organization he is free to do so.?
Sulaiman stressed ?the WBC has offered a hand to him but the WBC cannot bend the rules for Cuello or any other fighter.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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