Doug Fischer, editor of The Ring, strongly responded to recent statements from WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, who criticized The Ring Boxing Magazine’s decision not to make their championship title available for the upcoming December 16th fight between flyweight champions Sunny Edwards and Jesse Rodriguez. In a scathing article released on November 19th, many of the controversies surrounding the WBC that we have highlighted on this platform were mentioned, providing much of the same assertions we had surrounding the WBC’s incompetence and alleged corruption that has affected the sport.
During an interview with IFL TV, Mauricio Sulaiman stated the following at the WBC’s annual convention over the past week, which included seminars, speeches, resolutions, and appearances by famous active or retired boxers:
“I don’t know why media, champions, and promoters give any credit to a Ring magazine belt, which only threatens the credibility of the sport,” Sulaiman said on Thursday, November 16th, after being posed a question surrounding The Ring’s refusal to make their belt available for the December 16th Edwards-Rodriguez world unification fight.
“They are a business. They make money. They are biased.”
The Ring’s policy makes their titles available whenever the best two fighters in their division meet in the ring. According to their rankings, Sunny Edwards is considered the best flyweight in the world, while Jesse Rodriguez is ranked at #4, below #2-ranked WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez and WBA champion Artem Dalakian. Currently, Edwards holds the IBF title, while Rodriguez is known as the flyweight division’s WBO champion.
As Rodriguez is currently not ranked at #2 like Martinez, The Ring belt was not considered eligible for his fight with Edwards, hence the decision to exclude it from their December 16th bout. However, The Ring has mostly been consistent in this matter, and in any case, has shown a strong adherence to their own rules, unlike the WBC, which has a decade-long list of mistakes and controversies that leave them in no position to criticize any sanctioning body, governing body, or any other institution that helps regulate or govern the sport.
The WBC’s president blatantly glazed over his organization’s faults to instead seek to besmirch The Ring’s reputation based on their recent decision not to include The Ring’s championship belt in the Edwards-Rodriguez unification bout; a decision that adheres to their own rules given Jesse Rodriguez is simply not ranked high enough to qualify for the title.
In response to Mauricio Sulaiman’s criticism, The Ring’s longtime editor Doug Fischer reacted with his own fact-driven response that thoroughly exposed the WBC’s history of incompetence and alleged corruption.
“The president of the sanctioning organization that proudly attaches its belt and its brand to pseudo-boxing events and exhibitions like Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr., Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. John Gotti III, and Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou should never mention the word ‘credibility,’ let alone accuse others of threatening the credibility of a sport that was considered renegade before my grandfather was alive,” Doug Fischer wrote pinpointedly in his article.
“The guy in charge of the sanctioning organization that proudly put out a press release stating that Jake Paul would join its cruiserweight rankings if the content creator-turned-boxer defeated unaccomplished prospect Tommy Fury this past February should not talk about credibility or accuse others of being ‘biased businesses,’” Fischer continued.
“Attaching WBC belts and the WBC brand to crossover stars like the Paul brothers and KSI (and their events) has everything to do with business (money and exposure), and very little to do with sport. Sulaiman’s organization has a rich (pun intended) history of showing favoritism to the more popular, revenue-driving fighters of the sport, regardless of their levels.
“The WBC’s decision to bring Ngannou (0-1) in at No. 10 in their heavyweight rankings over far more qualified contenders, such as Filip Hrgovic or Zhilei Zhang, has very little to do with sport, very much to do with business, and the choice is obviously biased in favor of the hot name with big-event/crossover appeal. To say otherwise is a slap in the face to intelligent boxing fans and media.“
Doug Fischer did not hold back as he resumed his criticism, highlighting Jermall Charlo’s continued absence from the ring, which is approaching four years, all while remaining the WBC middleweight champion, while deserving champions such as Carlos Adames were ignored, all while being forced to pay sanctioning fees.
“We know why Sulaiman insists on allowing Jermall Charlo to keep the WBC middleweight title even though the unbeaten Texan hasn’t defended it in 40 months. It has very little to do with Charlo’s mental health, and very much to do with keeping Charlo’s adviser, PBC boss Al Haymon, happy,” Fischer stated in his article.
“Meanwhile, an honest hard-working contender like Carlos Adames (No. 2 in the Ring rankings) has had to settle for holding the WBC’s interim title for more than a year. Mind you, Adames paid a sanctioning fee to fight in a tough 10-round title elimination bout vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko in 2021. He paid a sanctioning fee to fight for and win the WBC interim title with a third-round KO of undeserving (but guess where he’s from?) Juan Macias Montiel last October. He paid a sanctioning fee in defense of the interim belt with a hard-fought ninth-round stoppage of Julian Williams in June.
“[Editor’s Note: You’re all aware that The Ring does not charge the fighters who fight for and hold our championship titles any sort of fee, right?]
“Why isn’t Adames the full WBC champion by now? The answer is clear to anyone with a brain. He’s not the PBC’s favored son, so he’s not the WBC’s favored fighter. Hey, it’s good for business to keep Haymon happy.“
The situation surrounding Carlos Adames and Jermall Charlo is one we have questioned and dived into several times already, and more poignantly, the connection between the WBC and the PBC that was highlighted by Fischer is a relationship that we have also heavily scrutinized, given it has not helped boxing in the slightest, and in actuality seems to only cause the sport to deteriorate further as it falls into deterioration due to pervasive corruption.
The fact that Adames has been forced to pay sanctioning fees for years while being denied an opportunity while Charlo was allowed to keep his belt, remain inactive all while it is not even known whether he pays the required sanctioning dues, is but one incident in a long list of many that the WBC has gotten away with.
Doug Fischer’s criticism is welcome at this period in time where boxing continues to suffer from the decisions by the WBC, as was most recently evident when they refused to strip WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury for willingly fighting a 0-0 debutant in Francis Ngannou, only for Fury to barely scrape by with a win that is still considered controversial.
As we mentioned in one of our previous articles on this topic, there was no barrier stopping Tyson Fury from fighting another top-15 ranked heavyweight by the WBC, but instead of addressing Fury’s choice to face Ngannou, the WBC actually approved of it to the point they recently placed Francis Ngannou in their top-15 rankings following his match with Fury, despite Ngannou being tied down to a contract to fight for American-based MMA promotion PFL.
Despite the rightful criticism from one of The Ring’s most recognizable editors, it should be noted that the WBC’s corruption seems to only have been made a point of reference when The Ring was publicly attacked, and in the greater scheme of things, The Ring is usually not this vocal when it comes to corruption in boxing, despite their influence and standing within the industry.
While certain cases have been mentioned by The Ring and expanded upon, there still seems to be a culture afflicting it as it does other media outlets where distinguishing corruption in the sport seems to have become a rule of sorts, as this might affect their relationship with other institutions in boxing.
However, as an organization and media outlet that has existed for decades, The Ring has strived to set an example for other sanctioning bodies to follow, and in that regard, they are ahead of the four main sanctioning bodies who seem content to linger in the cesspool of corruption that has gripped boxing.
