More details on WBC’s boxing Grand Prix featuring four divisions of prospects in 2025

HAMBURG – WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman was thrilled to announce the WBC Boxing Grand Prix this week, a tournament he has worked on with Turki Alalshikh to feature the next generation of stars.

“Before he passed away, it was the dream of my father [Jose Sulaiman], he was pushing for a world cup, to demonstrate and have a path for greatness,” Sulaiman said. “This idea has been floated for 14 or 15 years. It was going to take place 11 years ago, and I spoke to His Excellency [Alalshikh] and explained that the youth, the young prospects, have no channels out, because there’s the very big promoters, and then there’s a lot of empty opportunities, and this is going to be a great opportunity for that.”

During the WBC’s 62nd annual convention in Germany, Sulaiman has announced that every fighter must register in a pension fund by 2026 to compete in WBC-sanctioned fights, and he’s discussed topics from the importance of monitoring weight to problems with recreational and performance-enhancing drugs. 

The boxing Grand Prix, however, is something he is particularly excited about.

“Because of logistics and finances, it is all going to take place in Saudi,” said Sulaiman. “It’s five events […] and you need time between one fight, those who win go on to the next fight, quarterfinals, semifinals, finals, the last event in Riyadh in December. The other four events [will be] somewhere in Saudi Arabia.

The week-long convention has seen fighters from around the world fly in, including Lennox Lewis, Vinny Pazienza, Badou Jack, Amir Khan, Terence Crawford, Shawn Porter and Sebastian Fundora, while more local fighters including Axel Schulz, Arthur Abraham and Artur Grigorian have also attended events so far.

Asked for a highlight, Sulaiman said: “Of course, having His Excellency Turki Alalshikh present at the WBC convention, to have him awarded as the Man of the Year for changing the sport of boxing in just 14 months. Everything has changed with great events, great fights.”