WBC News: Leonard, Robinson, Louis, Duran, Tyson, More!

By José Sulaimán: THE GREAT ONES OF YESTERYEAR AND TODAY

The boxing media and many fans of the world have been considering the all-time heroes of boxing, especially after the destruction in the ring of Antonio Margarito by the star of the moment, Manny Pacquiao, who many would like to fight, especially for the money. The world has been impacted by the great deeds of this fighter, who started by winning the WBC flyweight world championship and moved all the way up to win the super welterweight green and gold belt – those are five divisions in the World Boxing Council (WBC), defeating the best of each in an overwhelming and brilliant way.

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing of wistful affection of the past, of years long gone never, ever to return, the living again the happy days of our lives … of thinking that our youth is still here … in other words, of living again those years that flew away faster than the wind. Nostalgia is also our witnessing the passing of history and therefore, our right to debate all that others feel differently.

Manny Pacquiao is a great, valiant fighter; perhaps the biggest-ever sports hero of the Philippines and without a doubt of countless boxing fans in the world, including myself. But to say, as several have written, that he has surpassed Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Mike Tyson, Ray Leonard, or even Roberto Durán, or Julio César Chávez, whose career was 14 ½ years undefeated in professional boxing, 10 of which were as a champion of the world without ever losing a fight, is sincerely a sin. All those mentioned are for me, without question, some of the all-time heroes of the sport of boxing, where I certainly also place Manny Pacquiao, with the greatest of all-time being the one and only Muhammad Ali, who in his time was voted in an international poll the most-known face in the world, even over The Beatles, President Ronald Reagan, Elvis Presley, Pelé, and even over his Holy Sanctity, The Pope.

I had the great pleasure of living their great nights, their great fights, their power and class, their history, their friendships. I was a friend of Joe Louis and visited him during the last days of his life when he lived at home in Las Vegas, where he was recovering form heart surgery which was taken care of by the immortals Frank Sinatra and President John F. Kennedy. Once I asked him how would he have done with John L. Sullivan, the great first heavyweight champion in history, and he answered with his low, tired voice, that Sullivan would have beaten him in his time, but that he would have knocked him out during his days. Those words, full of wisdom, show clearly the truth about boxing – the old time-present time comparisons are useless. The champion of the world during his time is the champion of his generation.

I have also seen different confrontations about this item by different writers, and nostalgia took me back to the greatest Spanish-speaking boxing TV commentator ever, Don Antonio Andere who, being the greatest, had problems as a writer in picking a winner. People in boxing can never forget that once he wrote, “We will not miss today: VAZQUEZ WILL WIN,” when Baby Vázquez was fighting Mauro Vázquez. The judges’ verdict was a draw.

Let us leave nostalgia aside to express our hope to have in the coming 2011 the most wanted fight by the boxing fans of all the world, Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather, both being the only five-time champions in five different divisions in the 50 years of the WBC – Pacquiao with the flyweight, super bantam, super feather, lightweight and super welterweight titles; Mayweather with super featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight, and super welterweight titles.

But let me come back now to nostalgia, which is my close companion in these years of my life. Nostalgia makes us cry and laugh. It makes us remember our bohemian days and nights listening to Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Marco Antonio Muniz, Enrico Caruso … and looking for a doctor the following day. It makes us remember the greatness of Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Bobby Avila, and Joe DiMaggio; of Charlie Chaplin, Cantinflas, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Marilyn Monroe, Jorge Negrete, María Félix, Arturo de Córdoba; the unforgettable Ali-Frazier fight at Madison Square Garden; Monzón-Nápoles at a circus in Paris with Alain Delon and George Parnassus as the promoters; the Leonard-Duran fight in Montreal; the rematch between Ray Robinson and Randy Turpin at Yankee Stadium with more than 70,000 fans !! A record !!!! And well … so many unforgettable historical years that can only be found today in written history.

Nostalgia is today only a remembrance of the past, and I must open my eyes to the present; to think of nostalgia as the foundation of the future, and keep thinking and working for our boxing of today as the best ever … Amen.