Slim Love

Some people live charmed lives: two years ago, Carlos Slim (briefly) became the world's richest man. This year he was named Man of the Year by the World's Boxing Council. I'd not been aware of any significant contribution to the sport on Slim's part, nor did the summary of the ceremony avail me of any. I can tell you, however, that Slim joins esteemed company: past winners of this award include Frank Sinatra and Muhammad ("Mohammed" according to El Universal) Ali.

While we're on the topic of the WBC, the organization sanctioned a title fight between Jorge Linares and Josafat Pérez. Linares is an undefeated two-division champ, a devastating puncher who left with Oscar Larios with a brain-bleed in 2007. (Of course, the WBC continues to sanction Larios for title fights, even after that injury.) In Pérez's 13-fight career, he has beaten only three men with a winning record, and is coming off a loss in his last fight (to a man with 17 losses, no less!). I don't know what type of relationship his promoter has with WBC boss José Sulaimán, but Pérez has done nothing to warrant even an elimination bout, much less a title fight. He has nothing in his track record to suggest that this won't be a horrible mismatch and a brutal beatdown. The fight was actually postponed because of a cut Linares suffered in training, but that merely delays the inevitable. Unfortunately, the WBC's competitors are equally shameless.