The WBC World Cup has been pushed back again as a sign of respect to President Jose Sulaiman as he recovers from his very recent heart surgery at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
According to President of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) and Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) Peter Abdool, the postponement will however have no effect on Guyana’s combatants and CABOFE champions, featherweight, Clive ‘The Punisher’ Atwell or welterweight, Simeon ‘Candy Man’ Hardy who are part of the tournament.
“I don’t think anybody has suffered from the postponement,” Abdool told Stabroek Sport yesterday. “I believe Clive is a future world champion and he is in a beautiful position, he is in the top 15 now and was recently made the mandatory challenger for the Commonwealth title.
“I’m trying to get him [Atwell] a shot at the International title and the Silver belt which is held by Robinson Castellanos of Mexico, if Clive beats him he will be number two in the world, he has the world in front of him.”
Regarding Hardy, Abdool revealed that he is also looking for fights for him to climb the rankings and move past the CABOFE title stage.
So when will Hardy or Atwell fight for one of these titles?
“We are looking for one of these big fights to materialize early in the New Year,” Abdool said.
The WBC’s decision makers feel that if Sulaiman is not a part of their historic event, it would be unfair to his efforts, and to the family and friends who love and support him during his recovery. The postponement would allow Sulaiman to be involved in all the activities of the tournament when he’s back in action.
The WBC anticipates at this time that the World Cup will box off in March or April 2014.
