Boxing

Wee Bit Corrupt

By Paul-John Ramos

28.04 - Is it possible? Does the World Boxing Council still think we can be fed its lies, its swindles, its schemes this late in the game?

While announcing its Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an April 23rd press release, Jose Sulaiman's WBC is still soliloquizing about integrity. The WBC still claims itself as an equalizer: a bureau giving neglected fighters opportunity on the world stage, a destroyer of monopolies, a freer of the enslaved from lifetime contracts.

But has the WBC and its alphabet neighbors solved these problems or compounded them? Has the WBC created equal opportunity by selling fighter rankings to promoters under the table? Has it created equal opportunity by stripping its champions of belts after fighting champions from other organizations? Has it created equal opportunity by hoarding millions of dollars in sanctioning fees while its fighters are without even a basic pension system?

The WBC's press statement blames Chapter 11 entry on "circumstances beyond its control." Wrong. The WBC is broke because it must now pay for its hypocrisy. In 1998, Graciano Rocchigiani fought against Michael Nunn for the WBC light heavyweight title, winning by split decision. The WBC, through their promise of opportunity, equality, and freedom from enslavement, gave Rocchigiani a belt that was rightfully his. But this two-faced bunch, seeing that Roy Jones Jr. was more marketable as their light heavyweight champion than Rocchigiani, sidestepped their commitment to fairness. They returned the title to Jones after his decision to stay put as a light heavy. Rocchigiani, unlike the WBC, has understood the meaning of a promise. He deserves, just like the WBC light heavyweight title, every penny of the $30 million award that is owed him.

The WBC's Chapter 11 claim may stop Rocchigiani's payments, but it is simply a thumb jammed in its dike of impropriety. Other boxers have been denied opportunities, unfairly stripped of titles, and become pawns in a chess match between promoters and corrupt administrators. It has been the hope of many that American boxing will eliminate the importance of sanctioning bodies, that someday the boxing industry will come to its senses. But it seems more likely that the WBC, WBA, and IBF will save us a great deal of effort by never coming to theirs.

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