22.04.05 – From WBC President Jose Sulaiman: “The World Boxing Council deeply regrets the passing away of Japanese boxer Seiji Tanaka after an accident during a fight on April 3 in Japan. We are very proud, however, of the exemplary efforts of the Japan Boxing Commission’s medical committee in trying to save him – Tanaka reached the hospital in less than 15 minutes.. We join his family in this moment of sorrow, especially his wife, to whom he was married just one month ago. We pray to God to bring them prompt resignation to their sorrow.
“The WBC has a committee to investigate fatal and serious ring accidents. It looks into the private lives, behavior and habits of the fighters, their family situations, and their training. It also examines the details of the fight, including the actions of the referee, and anything else that might lead to finding the reasons for these fatal accidents. The WBC Medical Board has been in charge of this program for the last four years.
“The WBC had planned a meeting in June to help professional boxing in Indonesia, where there are so many accidents in the ring, but it has been postponed due to the problems Indonesia has had recently in the aftermath of the tsunami and earthquakes.
“The WBC will have a planning workshop for the Second World Medical Congress, to be held in Acapulco, Mexico, from April 19 to 23, 2006. The first World Congress was organized and held by the WBC on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 1997. The WBC has 161 affiliated nations, and boxing physicians from 83 countries attended, with lecturers of the highest scientific level. Many recommendations that were made at the first Congress have been implemented in boxing around the world. This second Congress will review the results of the first Congress, and will offer the most modern and updated medical tests and recommendations for the improvement of safety in boxing around the world. We expect to have at least the same representation from around the world, or even better.
“The WBC will invite some of its top ring officials to a workshop to organize the next WBC Ring Officials Clinic, which will be held during the 2005 WBC convention in Spain. The purpose of the workshop will be to get a general opinion regarding the establishment of specific training methods, qualifications, and basic guidelines mainly for the improvement of safety, as well as fairness and justice in judging fights.
“The WBC has created a Boxing Season, which began on January 1, to motivate, acknowledge, and award the boxers with the most merit during the year, in accordance to their performance. The basis for this Boxing Season is a point addition system based on activity, merit, victories over qualified contenders, and the type of victories – knockout or decision. At the end of the year, the WBC will present an award to the boxer in each weight division that won the most points. In the past, nobody has taken any action on measuring activity and kinds of victories, and this program is centered on reality, centered on who is doing what, not only their name or reputation, to deserve a rating. The WBC Boxing Season is updated on a bimonthly basis, and is accessable to everyone on the WBC’s webpage. We believe that this is a very interesting, honest, and fair season, based on action and reality. Personally, I’m very interested in this program.”
WBC Boxing Season Rules:
1. The season will be from January 1, 2005, to December, 31, 2005.
2. Only boxers ranked in the top 20 of the WBC ratings will qualify. The season begins with those rated in the Top 10 of the December, 2004, ratings, which were published in January, 2005.
3. There is no cost involved to the fighters.
4. Results will be compiled weekly, and printed reports will be made bimonthly.
5. The fighter that has the most points at the end of the season will be named the winner.
6. Every time a boxer fights, a certain amount of points will be gained according to the WBC point gaining system.
7. Those boxers who enter the top 20 ratings during the year will begin earning points from that point on.
8. If a boxer drops from the top 20, he will continue throughout the season as an active contender.
The complete WBC Boxing Season, including rules, point gaining system chart, and current standings can be found on the World Boxing Council webpage at wbcboxing.com.
Upcoming World Championship and Final Elimination Fights:
May 7 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Lightweight World Championship
WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo (52-6-1, 46 KOs, Mexicali, Mexico) vs
WBO champion Diego Corrales (39-2, 32 KOs, Sacramento, California)
May 14 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Welterweight World Championship
Champion Zab Judah (33-2, 24 KOs, Brooklyn, New York) vs
Cosme Rivera (WBC No. 9, 28-7-2, 21 KOs, Huatabampo, Mexico)
Plus Middleweight Final Elimination Bout
Felix Trinidad (WBC No. 1, 42-1, 35 KOs, Cupey Alto, Puerto Rico) vs
Winky Wright (WBC No. 2, 48-3, 25 KOs, St. Petersburg, Florida)
Plus Welterweight Final Elimination Bout
Carlos Baldomir (WBC No. 2, 40-9-6, 12 KOs, Sante Fe, Argentina) vs
Miguel Rodriguez (WBC No. 3, 26-1, 21 KOs, Naucalpan, Mexico)
Plus Lightweight Final Elimination Bout
Michael Clark (WBC No. 1, 34-2, 15 KOs, Columbus, Ohio) vs
Sirimongkol Singwancha (WBC No. 2, 47-2, 28 KOs, Phatumthani, Thailand)
May 21 – Chicago, Illinois – Vacant Light Heavyweight World Championship
Paul Briggs (WBC No. 1, 23-1, 17 KOs, Queensland, Australia) vs
Tomasz Adamek (WBC No. 4, 28-0, 19 KOs, Zywiec, Poland)
June 25 – Atlantic City, New Jersey – Super Lightweight World Championship
Champion Arturo Gatti (39-6, 30 KOs, Jersey City, New Jersey) vs
Floyd Mayweather (WBC No. 1, 33-0, 22 KOs, Las Vegas, Nevada)
World Championship Results:
April 16 – Tokyo, Japan – Bantamweight World Championship
Hozumi Hasegawa (18-2, 5 KOs, Hyogo, Japan) W12 Veeraphol Nakhonluang (47-2-2, 33 KOs, Nakhon Ratchaseema, Thailand)
Hasegawa won the world title with an upset 12 round unanimous decision victory against the defending champion. It was a close, exciting fight at Tokyo’s Nihon Budokan – Hasegawa, a lefthander, started fast and outworked Veeraphol in the first three rounds, but Veeraphol rallied in the fourth, and Hasegawa was cut over the left eye. The momentun shifted back and forth and after eight rounds, all three judges scored 76-76. Hasegawa swept rounds nine, 10 and 11 on all three scorecards, and rocked Veeraphol with a series of punches in the tenth, but Veeraphol finished strongly in the twelfth. Hasegawa won by scores of 115-113, 115-113, 116-112. The referee was Guadalupe Garcia.
President Sulaiman said, “Veeraphol has been known as one of the most exemplary boxers ever, a champion in the ring and a champion in his private life. He had not lost a fight in over nine years. Veeraphol held the world title for seven years, and made 15 successful title defenses, which ties the Asian record of former flyweight world champion Jungkoo Chang of Korea. Hasegawa, just 24 years old, was very impressive. He showed exceptional speed, skills, and combination punching, and appears to have a very bright future.”