We got up from the canvas just few seconds before we were knocked out after enduring maybe the most

trying and dramatic moments of an organization managed by people and institutions that receive no income

from boxing and who instead of founding another organization decided to make enormous efforts so the

popular and prestigious green and gold belt continues to be the most cherished award any boxer can

receive.

Even when we always maintained our innocence, we want to leave this unpleasant experience behind and

ratify the respect the WBC has always observed for the courts of law in every country of the world. We will

learn from our mistakes and strive to improve world boxing for the sake of the future generations and the poor

and destitute of the world that raise from the humblest origins and find in boxing a friendly hand that helps

them to become heroes in their nations and in the world.

The World Boxing Council was founded in Mexico City in 1963 and its presidents along its existence have

been Onslow Fane, of England; Luis Spota, of Mexico; Justiniano Montano, of Philippines; Professor

Ramon G. Velasquez, of Mexico, all of them already dead, and the current President Jose Sulaiman, of

Mexico, who during 27 years has been re-elected on 7 occasions.

The WBC has certified a total of 1,444 title fights; among them we have the one between Muhammad Ali

vs. Sonny Liston; Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier; Ray Leonard vs. Duran; Leonard vs. Tommy

Hearns; Lennox Lewis - Vitaly Klitschko; Tito Trinidad - Oscar de la Hoya; Nigel Been - Gerald

McCleland; Daniel Zaragoza - Joichiro Tatsuyoshi; Erik Morales - Marco Antonio Barrera; Julio

Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor; the one between Julio Cesar Chavez and Greg Haugen that filled

the Azteca Stadium with 132,274 fans on February 24, 1993; and the one between Julio Cesar Chavez

and Meldrick Taylor during the inauguration of the MGM, and also the extraordinary fight between Sugar

Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran in Montreal, Canada, the majority of them considered as the very best of

the 20th Century.

The WBC has had 355 world champions, among whom we have Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Larry

Holmes, Lennox Lewis, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, Julio Cesar Chavez,

Tommy Hearns, Azumah Nelson, Erik Morales and many more idols of the highest boxing category in the

history of the sport.

The achievements, rules and actions the WBC has offered the world go from a more humanized boxing, a

permanent program for medical research for the treatment of head injuries with UCLA, a substantial amount

of money given to indigent boxers during the last 25 years, our unwavering fight for 20 years against

apartheid in South Africa and the countless medical measures and rules implemented in professional boxing

that will remain in the pages of history that turn the WBC into a true legend.

Jose Sulaiman, its President, wants to express his profound gratitude to all boxing people, world

champions, promoters and communication media that stood by the WBC and supported the continuance of

the World Boxing Council in the world boxing arena.

To Jose Sulaiman, this valuable support represents the most important deed he could have ever expected

when other people wished the WBC's demise. Rather fortunately, the WBC could emerge triumphant

because its officers and members never lost faith.