WBC CHAMPION ?MARAVILLA? MARTINEZ PRESENTS WBC BELT TO POPE FRANCIS IN HISTORIC AUDIENCE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 17 Oct 2013
World Boxing Council middleweight champion Sergio ?Maravilla? Martinez presented Pope Francis with an honorary WBC green and gold championship belt in a historic one-on-one audience with His Holiness in Rome.
The WBC reported that the meeting between the two Argentineans marked the first time a professional fighter has had a one-on-one meeting with the Pope since Muhammad Ali.
Both Pope Francis and Martinez are from Argentina.
Martinez told the WBC it was a dream as a Catholic to meet the Pope and indicated it was one of his two dreams come true within the past month, the other being to visit the Basilica of our Lady Guadalupe in Mexico.
The popular champion said he would request Pope Francis to bless and spiritually protect all those who enter the ring.?
International promoter, matchmaker and longtime advisor Sampson Lewkowicz said ?Sergio Martinez continues to make history in our sport."
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