Photo Credit: The vatican
The Vatican head, Pope Francis, blesses the WBC heavyweight belt that will be on the line when Tyson Fury faces Oleksandr Usyk in their upcoming fight.
The fight will be live on Sky Sports Box Office on May 18.
The contest has attracted worldwide attention,including the Pope himself. Mauricio Sulaiman explains why the Pontiff signed the WBC belt.
Tyson Fury and Usyk will contest the first undisputed heavyweight title bout in 25 years, fighting for the WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight championship.
The WBC has commissioned a new title belt for the Fury vs Usyk fight, with Ukrainian and British emblems on either strap. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman took the belt to the Pope, who blessed and signed it.
"Pope Francis has a foundation. I learned there was a programme called Football with Values. I proposed to the Pope to do Boxing with Values. So he accepted, and immediately embraced boxing.'' Sulaiman said.
As for whom the Pope is tipping to win the big fight, the Pontiff, it transpires, will remain studiously neutral.
"I brought the belt, he blessed the belt, he signed it. [The Pope] signed one side [on the strap] and he said I must sign the other side otherwise this fighter is going to think I'm cheering for him and not the other," Sulaiman revealed.
Sulaiman says that the Pope does not have a favorite and that he is looking forward to May 18. Sulaiman insists the Pope recognises the social values that the sport can embody.
"People are taken out of the streets to go into gyms," Sulaiman said.
"Pope Francis himself made the comparison of the cobra and the mongoose. The mongoose is a little rat, the King cobra is the most terrifying snake and yet the mongoose beats the King cobra.
By Lewis Musonye
