Watch Pope Francis Bless, Autograph WBC Title

Boxing used to have the great white hope.
Now it has the great white pope, thanks to the recent support from Pope Francis. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman recently paid a visit to the head of the Catholic Church for a special bl…



Boxing used to have the great white hope.

Now it has the great white pope, thanks to the recent support from Pope Francis. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman recently paid a visit to the head of the Catholic Church for a special blessing ahead of the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk title fight this weekend in Riyadh.

“Pope Francis has a foundation,” Sulaiman told Sky Sports. “I learned there was a program called Football with Values. I proposed to the Pope to do Boxing with Values. So he accepted, immediately embraced boxing. I brought the belt, he blessed the belt and he signed it.”

“[The Pope] signed one side [of 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 continued. “[He] doesn’t have a favorite. He’s looking forward to May 18!”

Fury is the current WBC titleholder while Usyk carries the WBA, IBF, and WBO straps. Boxing has a different title for each of its governing bodies and this weekend’s “Ring of Fire” pay-per-view (PPV) in Riyadh (order it here) will (finally) unify them … barring a draw or some other wacky circumstance.

For the completed “Fury vs. Usyk” fight card and DAZN PPV lineup click here. For more boxing news and notes click here.