WE REGRET THE ATTACKS ON DON JOSE SULAIMAN
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 30 Dec 2011
Recovering as we are from being hospitalized following a rather worrisome bout with pneumonia, the last thing we wish to happen is to hurt anybody, especially such a valued friend of many decades, WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman and his son and executive secretary Mauricio Sulaiman.
We decided to write this column after receiving a touching and somewhat emotional email from Mauricio who, like any good son, felt terrible about the way his father was being pictured in some sectors of the media.
We figured, we owe it to Don Jose to put the whole issue into its proper perspective, if we could.
From the outset let us make it clear we don?t wish to get into an argument with two Filipino colleagues whom we consider friends ? Dr. Ed De La Vega and Rich Mazon who bitterly if not somewhat unkindly ? criticized Don Jose for his honest comments regarding Floyd Mayweather Jr in response to queries of ours regarding Floyd's jail sentence and its impact on a WBC title holder given the organization's rules.
Let us first make this very clear. Don Jose did state that officially nothing had been decided yet which meant ? from our point of view, that his thoughts were his own and given honestly. At least he had the decency to respond to our queries on a relevant issue which he always does.
We?d also like to point out that unknown to many whenever we raised issues of integrity within the organization and pointed out specific instances where the WBC was being effectively undermined, Don Jose always acted decisively and properly. That?s the measure of the man.
We must appreciate the fact that Don Jose?s native language is Spanish and not English and that when he thinks, he thinks within a Hispanic mindset. That simply means that there is something bound to be lost in the appreciation of his thoughts and their translation into English.
We have personally seen this many times in his interviews with us or even in WBC statements.
When Don Jose stated that while ?beating a lady is highly critical it is not a major sin or crime? the obvious context he was alluding to were heinous crimes such as murder, manslaughter, drug pushing and the like. Too bad that he didn?t mention the more serious crimes but, to be fair to the gentleman, it was implied.
Unfortunately our colleagues didn?t consider this reality and instead pounced on the bare statement of Don Jose. Perhaps we should take the blame for not putting the statement into perspective.
For what its worth we believe the WBC rules should at the very least be amended, rather than be broken. But since no official decision has been made, as of now its rules haven?t been broken.
To be honest ? and we ourselves may receive some flak for this ? our basic contention is that tiles and belts should be won ? or lost ? in the ring, not outside.
While the WBC rules itself are intended to elevate fighters and the fight game to a standard of respectable public conduct and free from violations of law, this doesn?t always happen. We are well aware of crimes against women committed by other high profile fighters which are talked and written about but never seem to be condemned.
When Don Jose mentioned the desire of just about everybody to see a Manny Pacquiao-Mayweather fight he was telling it like it is. It had, we believe, nothing to do with exaggerated amounts in terms of sanction fees.
We know for a fact that when Pacquiao fought Oscar De La Hoya he did not pay the standard sanction fees of the WBC neither did he do so in an earlier fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. They were negotiated with the WBC and in fairness to Don Jose and the WBC, they were far less than the stipulated amounts.
One has also to understand that sanction fees help keep any boxing organization going aside from helping fund some of their outreach programs and charitable activities especially among kids. Its not as though the sanction fees go into the pockets of officials.
Beyond that, as in the case of the WBC, the green and gold belt is both prestigious and valuable and one which fighters use to promote themselves, their achievements and their commercial marketability. Surely, this must come at some reasonable price.
My beloved mentor and quintessential Filipino friend, the late Rudy Salud, always reminded us about the goodness of Don Jose Sulaiman and pointed to the undeniable fact that the WBC president has been good to the Philippines and has shown his care and concern for Filipino boxers. Of that there is no doubt.
This is something we, as Filipinos, should always remember. We are by no means suggesting that any wrong, real or perceived, should be ignored. Not on your life. But when we assess things we should endeavor to weigh the realities and put them in a proper perspective.
This is the season of goodwill to all men and our hope is that we can all remember this when we put pen to paper.
We?d like to make a special appeal to Dr. De la Vega and Rich Mazon not to extend the discussion on the issue and to Don Jose and Mauricio to understand that we meant no harm or disrespect to an esteemed friend who, despite some faults typical of all human beings, has been good to the sport and especially to the Philippines and Filipino boxers, promoters and managers and has shown great respect for our country and people.
May all of you have a blessed and peaceful New Year marked by kindness to one another and remarkable success in boxing ? a sport we all love with unbridled passion.
Photo: Sulaiman honored in recently in Cancun, Mexico.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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