Greed has supplanted honour - boxing chief Sulaiman

Greed has replaced pride and honour in boxing, says Jose Sulaiman, the long-serving president of the World Boxing Council (WBC).

"Today promoters, managers and boxers only want money. Years ago it was for the pride, glory and the honour," Sulaiman told Reuters in a wide-ranging interview.

The Mexican had a twinkle in his eye when he recalled the glory days of prize-fighting.

"Back then there were thousands of professional boxers," he said. "Today there are hundreds. The technique is better today. But the heart, mental attitude and strength of the fighters was far superior then."

Few people are better qualified to have such an overview.

Sulaiman has been in boxing since 1941 when, as a 10-year-old, he laced up some gloves for a warm-up bout before the headliners waded in under the bright lights.

After such fights, he collected a meagre sprinkling of pesos thrown into the ring by cheering punters, still competing against his rival on the other side of the ring to scoop up the most.

Sulaiman has been president of the WBC since 1975. He recently called on the board of governors to decide his future by giving him a unanimous vote of confidence at the annual convention, due to be held in October in China.

Just one dissenting vote, he said, would be the signal for him to hang up his gloves after more than 60 years in the sport he loves.

Now 76, Sulaiman has devoted time to making boxing a safer sport than the more savage version he first encountered.

Among many changes, the WBC pioneered reducing championship bouts from 15 to 12 rounds and holding weigh-ins 24 hours before the opening bell instead of the same day to allow contestants to rehydrate and eat.

So he views the growth of no-holds-barred mixed martial arts with particular distaste.

"The Roman circus was barbaric and this is barbaric," he said. "It's like two animals trying to kill each other.

"In Mexico it has not happened and I'm fighting for that not to happen. But with the public in the United States, I don't know.

"They like it very much but I criticise it."

Sulaiman is calling for unity for boxing's so-called alphabet soup of organisations, where a host of different bodies sanction world championship fights.

"We still know that we have many things to do in the future, and definitely the WBC will continue fighting as much as we can to bring order, good rule and safety mainly.

"We need unity. Now everybody is trying to kill everybody."

Mexico is due to host its first heavyweight title fight on March 8 in the resort of Cancun when Oleg Maskaev, of Russia, faces Nigerian Samuel Peter.

Sulaiman is not worried about the high-profile heavyweight division's dearth of big-name talent, saying it is just a matter of time before the next marquee name arrives.

"I would say that Lennox Lewis was the recent greatest and he's now left," he said.

"This is an era of transition. We're looking for new people.

"And when they give the image we expect because of their abilities and merits, I believe we will have a new cycle of great champions.

"There will always be a superhero, somebody who is hiding behind a rock will come out and become a superstar. He goes, and someone else comes. That's the history of boxing."