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Round 12: A Great Start To 2021
By Mauricio Sulaimán – Son of José Sulaimán – WBC President
What an explosive way to begin this 2021, which the World
Boxing Council has designated "The Year of Boxing," as we
will celebrate life with a large number of anniversaries of
historic dates derived from our sport.
The fight between "King" Ryan Garcia and Luke Campbell was
amazing and this young star has reached the major leagues
and is faced with a series of great fights in the
lightweight division in sight.
This Saturday, January 2, the first card of 2021 was held.
It took place in Dallas and there was an important
attendance of fans who witnessed a great fight.
Both boxers were WBC international champions and also WBC
silver champions. After a long period of negotiations during
the complicated era of Covid-19, the fight was settled for
this date and the WBC interim lightweight championship was
disputed.
The young, undefeated Mexican-American and social media
sensation against the experienced, seasoned Brit Luke
Campbell, who had already fought important battles against
world-class boxers such as Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jorge
Linares.
Garcia came from two victories in the first round, only 78
seconds of combat, and this was without a doubt a hard test
that many thought he would not be able to overcome.
Campbell dished out the maximum drama by knocking Garcia
down in the second round with a perfect left counter that
put Ryan on the canvas. Visibly hurt, he got up with still a
minute of action left. He survived and turned the fight
around by knocking out Campbell with a perfect left hook to
the liver in the seventh round.
There is an element that we must highlight and that is of
great importance: Eddy Reynoso. Eddy took on Ryan to bring
him to the level that we can see him now and the handling of
the corner, especially in the crisis after the knockdown,
was majestic.
Eddy Reynoso has become the best boxing trainer of today.
Even though it was such a difficult year, he devoted himself
mind, body and soul to his boxers and managed to crown three
champions! Namely Luis "Panterita" Nery in super
bantamweight, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez at super middleweight
and finally "King" Ryan Garcia
I talked to Eddy at the end of the year, while he was in the
solitude of a boxing camp, away from his wife and daughters.
Ensconced in the camp with his pupil, he was patiently
waiting for the night of the fight. That is the sacrifice
that nobody observes, that nobody appreciates or values.
I admire this young Mexican trainer because one day he may
be in the corner of Canelo in the most important fight of
the year and in the most luxurious suite in Las Vegas, and
the next day we can see him in the corner of a humble
4-round debutant in a small town in Mexico. Congratulations
Eddy, that is what Mexico and sports need, committed people
to continue giving great moments and opportunities to those
who deserve it.
On December 30, I turned 51 years old and I enjoyed that day
very much in the company of my family. I grew up traumatized
because that date is very complicated, as before the time of
social networks, nobody remembered me. Many times, even my
family didn't congratulate me until the afternoon!
I spent all my childhood celebrating the New Year in Ciudad
Valles San Luis Potosi, there we spent the holidays to be
with our grandfather Don Elias. My cousin, Toño, celebrates
his birthday on the 29th, so they always made a special
party for him, and since they all stayed up all night and on
the 30th, the family was distracted, preparing the
end-of-the-year party. I spent many years with great sadness
of never knowing what a birthday was.
Now it's different with the internet, cell phones, and
social media, as everyone congratulates me! I received many
calls, emails, messages on WhatsApp and even on Twitter and
Instagram. Now I know what our special day feels like!
WBC Champions line up. We start 2021 with great talent and
many world champions at the WBC and it will undoubtedly be a
great year for our sport.
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