Dear President Jose Sulaiman,
The news that your organization, the World Boxing Council, will pit Bermane Stiverne against Chris Arreola for the title vacated by Vitali Klitschko’s retirement was greeted by a mixture of dismay and disinterest by boxing fans around the world. The idea of a Stiverne vs. Arreola rematch bores literally all fight fans, as it is entirely unnecessary in the wake of the April fight that saw Stiverne decisively beat Arreola on points. At the same time, the keener observers of the sport can only groan or sigh at Arreola remaining the WBC’s #2 heavyweight after losing that fight, as such a ranking bears the familiar stench so typical of your organization’s highly politicized, if not to say suspect decisions. Calls like retaining Arreola at #2 and then holding a rematch no one wants to see to decide who will succeed a fighter as lionized as Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko is why the WBC has gone from being the most prestigious of boxing’s sanctioning bodies to just one more in an unremarkable field.
Thanks to the dismay from the boxing community, you must be aware of that ordering Stiverne vs. Arreola II was a mistake. I urge you to fix that mistake by turning Stiverne vs. Arreola II into a box-off tournament by adding two more WBC Top 10 heavyweights into the mix, and letting the winner of Stiverne vs. Arreola II meet the winner of that bout.
Your rankings currently offer plenty of exciting options for that second bout. #3 Deontay Wilder and #4 Bryant Jennings could be offered the chance in an all-American prospects fight, or #6 Derek Chisora and #9 Tomasz Adamek could be given another run at a title by facing each other over in Europe. Since Stiverne will presumably win a rematch, the resulting fight for the WBC title would at least have the merit of being more interesting than just the rematch currently slated.
As for your having already promised Stiverne and Arreola a rematch for the title, when have your rules and promises ever stopped you from taking action in the past? Your reign as WBC President for Life is replete with examples of ignoring anything inconvenient to your private agenda, no matter how egregious. The difference would be that this time your setting aside of rules and regulations would benefit boxing fans, rather than saddle them with another boring, pointless pay-off to a well-connected promoter.
Sincerely,
Richard Thomas
