Mauricio Sulaiman explains why alcohol is dangerous for boxers, particularly because dehydration increases injury risk during sparring and fights. He compares old fighters who had 200+ bouts to modern boxers like Chávez with 115 fights and Canelo with 65, and argues boxing needs better storytelling through reality TV formats like The Contender to build stars and grow its audience.
If a boxer were disciplined all year round and didn't drink beer or whiskey, that would make things more complicated. Because when a boxer drinks, sparring is very dangerous due to dehydration. The dehydration caused by alcohol when receiving blows, and even less so with paddling. Yes. So before, if you look at the records of boxers from the 40s, 50s, 60s, they fought more than 100 fights. Chavez fought 115 fights, and Canelo has fought 65. Speaking of tournaments, I think that for the UFC, one of the milestones or key moments was the Ultimate Fighter. Right, the television series. And the same thing just happened for Formula One. Right. We were talking about how telling stories connects with the audience in boxing. Haven't you thought of something like that? Something that truly creates figures beyond the champions of each division? The United States made the Contender, that included Stallone and Sugar Leonard. It was a good tournament, a reality show, and unfortunately, although it had very good ratings, they stopped it. Yes, there have been some poorly made reality shows, but it would surely be a great success to have a boxing reality show. And we have to give it a new twist. We have to get into the current situation. Yes, and speaking of the current situation, there is also another factor that I think.
