Sulaiman Sorry For Insulting Duane Ford

I would like to express my deepest apologies for the expression that appeared in the newsletter of yesterday calling the fight of last Saturday “the theft of the century,” which was an exaggerated and bad translation from the Spanish, blamed on ourselves.

I am deeply sorry for having hurt a dear friend like Duane Ford and cannot find the words to express it, as all of my friends during all the years of my life know that I am not an offensive person, regardless of the circumstances and people.

Duane Ford is not only a very good, honest and decent person in his private life, but he is also one of the best judges that I have known. Duane Ford, in fact, holds a vice chair in the WBC Ring Officials Board, and he has been a leader for many judges. Boxing being a subjective sport, there are several differences of opinion and I scored the fight one-sided for Pacquiao, which was meant as no offense for my friend.

The main intention of my answer to the newspaper media was to present an example of what Open Scoring can do for fairness in boxing, as by knowing the score in the boxers’ corners, they can adjust their fight for what is needed, regardless of the scoring being right or wrong, as the scores have been issued and nothing can change it. The WBC has had absolute support in the rest of the world where we have implemented Open Scoring since several years ago.

Again, my deepest apologies for having hurt a friend, which I shouldn't have done.