Was the WBC being just & fair or just looking out for their own best interest?

With the World Boxing Council headquartered in Mexico City and always claiming to be holier than thou, nonaligned with any of the world’s top fighters, it sure sounds as though they’ve taken sides in this Alejandra Jiménez versus Franchon Crews Dezurn controversy after it was discovered Jimenez had been taking Performance Enhancing Drugs.

WBC Press release of June 4, 2020: “Alejandra “La Tigre” Jiménez is a woman who has encountered great obstacles during her life and it was precisely boxing that led her to be a winner. She has a great history that motivates many to find meaning in life and work to achieve their goals and dreams,” so says the WBC in their Press Release.

“Alejandra, who was the first Mexican to become a world heavyweight champion, transformed her life and managed to shed parcels of weight to reach the super middleweight division. On January 10 of this year (2020), she defeated the WBC/WBO Champion Franchon Cruz Dezurn in Texas.”

Here’s the part of that same Press release in which boxing fans took issue: “Days later, the very unfortunate notification from VADA arrived indicating that one of the anti-doping tests carried out through their Clean Boxing Program had been positive.”

“If not for that “very unfortunate notification” Alejandra “Tigre” Jiménez would have been successful in her (robbery) of Franchon Crews-Dezurn’s WBC Crown. “The World Boxing Council will work with Alejandra (in their best interest) directly to seek her absolute reintegration into boxing.

“We have several success stories in which a boxer’s career has managed to rebound after a stumble (after ripping off an opponent), one of them is David “Bandera Roja” Benavidez. The WBC worked intensively together with Benavidez and his team to return and today he is a proud world super middleweight champion.

“Alejandra is a very special person and she has the unconditional support of the World Boxing Council and the Sulaiman family. I trust her and I will personally be very aware of this process so that she will contest for the WBC world championship very soon.” Why doesn’t he say what’s truly on his mind? I will personally be very wary of her compliance with the rules of the sport and carefully monitor her misguided attempts in the future.

“Alejandra is a person who has defeated adversity in her private life and in boxing, I am sure she will come out of this situation with her hand held aloft.” How can that be possible if she isn’t taking those PEDs?

Questions that now need to be answered: 1) Why wasn’t Alejandra Jimenez tested well before her fight with Franchon? 2) Could Jimenez have somehow been warned well in advance of that upcoming VADA test and told to stay as far away from the venue as possible, for as long as possible, in hopes that the test would never take place?

The overwhelming consensus upon the discovery of Jimenez’s illegal act: “Really? That had to be the least surprising Positive Drug Test ever taken. So get your asses in gear and take the win away from Jimenez and give Franchon Cruz Dezurn back her belts. End of story. Why is there even a discussion of what needs to be done? Or what is right and what is wrong? Why delay the inevitable? Was the WBC worried about losing another of their cash cows? Or should we say: Unbeatable Champions?

Boxing great Claressa Shields has a different opinion: “Jimenez shouldn’t have won the fight in the first place. She was missing from the early days leading up to the fight just so she wouldn’t be tested. With all this doping stuff, Jimenez’s voice is now very deep and it’s so noticeable of a change. Plus all those enhancements to her body are so incredible.”

Statement on January 24, 2020 from Oscar De La Hoya, Franchon’s promoter: “We are incredibly disappointed for her (Franchon) as she worked incredibly hard to defend her titles.”

A compilation of the negative thoughts from fans: “I’m surprised alarm bells didn’t go off after they saw the radical changes. It is so blatantly obvious. With her deep voice, Jimenez can now go on a concert tour doing her Barry White impersonation. With her pill popping or injections with steroids, it can only lead to the ruination of the sport for women. Think about this: Franchon Cruz Dezurn could have been seriously injured from taking those extremely hard shots to the head. Jimenez should definitely be banned from the sport for at least two years. Just like they started doing in the UFC, Boxing Councils/Federations/Organizations should either police their sport or have a Federal Agency step in to take over that duty. Where is their sense of right and wrong? I guess it doesn’t matter if an opponent gets their brain scrambled. What’s next? We allow Jimenez to use that quick-setting gypsum plaster consisting of that fine white powder (calcium sulfate hemihydrate), which hardens after it is moistened, or have her use a razor blade? The cheater can arrive at the same outcome but even quicker.

March 20, 2020 came this Press Release from Franchon Cruz Dezurn’s promoter Oscar De LaHoya: “Without question we are pleased by the WBO’s decision to return their super middleweight title to Franchon Crews-Dezurn, who was on the bad end of quite a bit of controversy in her last fight.

“Crews-Dezurn (6-1, 2 KOs) lost a (split) decision to Alejandra Jimenez in a very entertaining fight on January 11, 2020 in San Antonio, only for Jimenez to fail a post-fight drug test. Golden Boy Promotions immediately set out on a campaign to have Crews-Dezurn’s WBC and WBO titles returned with the decision changed to a no-contest, and while the WBC has done nothing yet, the WBO made the call earlier this week to do just that. Wow, that was fast! It only took the WBO (World Boxing Organization) two months and 10 days to correct an obvious injustice.

“Justice has been served,” said Oscar De La Hoya in his statement.” (Really?) The WBO had made the correct decision by reinstating ‘The Heavy-Hitting Diva’ as its super middleweight world champion. (but what about the WBC?) Although these things take time, it is always great to see justice in action, especially in the sport that I love the most.”

Question: When something is so crystal clear, how can it possibly take so very long to be straightened out? On 2/10/20, that split decision win for Jimenez was changed to a no-decision by the Texas Boxing commission.

“As they say,” stated De La Hoya, “justice is a little bit slower on the WBC side, who has instead offered this alternate solution:

“Consistent with our WBC Rules & Regulations who mandates to maintain reasonable activity within its divisions, and take into account Ms. Crews-Dezurn’s position, the WBC will:

“(1) maintain the provisional suspension of recognition of Alejandra Jimenez as WBC World Champion and;

“(2) order a bout between Ms. Crews-Dezurn and the highest rated available contender in the division for the WBC Female Super Middleweight World Championship.”

“The next highest rated contender is Alicia Napoleon, a former unified titlist from Long Island. Of course, any such availability is a moot point, as the entire sporting world is shut down in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus. 

“As for Jimenez, a slim ray of hope remains. After having her “B” sample tested last month, she is now left with a 14-day window of opportunity to appeal the otherwise final decision made by the WBO while also continuing to wait out the WBCs findings. (Maybe someone in the WBC or Vada office will lose the paperwork).

“Once the investigative and adjudicative process of Ms. Jimenez’ adverse finding is concluded, then the (slow as molasses) WBC will determine Ms. Jimenez’ definitive status in the WBC and in which division?

In other words, which young lady is going to show up for her next fight: the slimmed down version with the male enhancements or the rather plump heavyweight who has been gorging herself on cake, cookies and ice cream.