It was revealed earlier this month that Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Julio César Chávez Jr.’s epic fight on May 6 will see the winner walk away with a unique huichol championship belt. In a feature on World Boxing News on Tuesday, World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman wrote about the origin of the belt, how it was crafted, and why it’s named after Adolfo Lopez Mateos.
In his article, Sulaiman states that the belt was crafted by a huichol artist by the name of “Luis,” who was reported earlier as being Luis de la Cruz, an artist at the Arte Marakame studio in Morelia. It took over 300 hours of work, along with over 40,000 crystal pieces, to create the green belt that will be awarded to the winner of the Canelo-Chávez Jr. fight.
The WBC President also explains the reasoning behind the name of the belt, officially known as the Presidente Adolfo López Mateos belt. Mateos was the first president of the WBC when it was created back in 1963 in Mexico; his life-long love boxing–a sport he himself participated in–led to his creation of the organization.
Sulaiman also clarified when exactly the belt will be up for grabs. The Presidente Adolfo López Mateos belt will be awarded to Mexican boxers that fight on dates around either Cinco de Mayo or September 16th, Mexico’s independence day. Given that the Canelo-Chávez edition as “5 De Mayo” on the front, it’s possible that the faceplate will be changed for fights happening on or around the 16th of September.