Roberto Durán, Riddick Bowe and Shawn Porter were among the champions in Acapulco for the WBC’s annual convention in November 2022. Alexeev Boxing joined them and the promoters, officials and others shaping professional boxing.
The World Boxing Council’s 60th annual convention took place in Acapulco from 6 to 11 November 2022, with the opening ceremony at Palacio Mundo Imperial. For Vasko Alexeev, it was an opportunity to meet leading champions and take part in discussions about the sport’s future.
Meeting Roberto Durán
Meeting Roberto Durán is a special moment for anyone who loves boxing. The four-division world champion known as Hands of Stone competed across five decades, won 103 professional bouts and took part in rivalries that fighters still study today.
Standing beside Durán means standing beside a man who changed perceptions of inside fighting, willpower and championship longevity. The photograph with Vasko Alexeev preserves that meeting. For our team, such moments also serve as reminders of how high the bar can be in professional boxing.
Riddick Bowe and Shawn Porter: different generations, shared character
Riddick Bowe’s name recalls the great heavyweight era of the nineties. In 1992, he defeated Evander Holyfield to win the WBA, WBC and IBF world belts. Their trilogy remains one of the division’s defining rivalries, with Bowe winning two of the three meetings.
Shawn Porter brought the perspective of a more recent era: elite welterweight boxing built on relentless pressure and a high work rate. He took part in the convention’s opening ceremony, and Vasko had the opportunity to meet him during the week.
Planning the next move
The programme included discussions of rankings and mandatory challengers, seminars for judges and referees, medical sessions and professional meetings. These issues directly affect a fighter’s career: access to title opportunities, the way bouts are judged and the conditions under which boxers compete.
For us as managers, those discussions help inform the work we do for individual fighters. Knowing how the sport operates internationally is part of preparing them for opportunities beyond Bulgaria.
A Bulgarian presence in boxing’s wider conversation
We attend international meetings to build the knowledge and relationships that can help our fighters. The value lies in understanding the sport’s wider professional community and how to find suitable opportunities within it.
Mexico left us with personal meetings with champions and a sense of professional boxing’s scale. Durán, Bowe and Porter each reminded us in a different way what stands behind a great name — years of competition, tough opponents and a willingness to prove yourself again.
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