WBC President Points Out How Their Institution’s Past Act Saved Ellis Zorro From Getting Severely Injured by Jai Opetaia’s Lethal KO

A catastrophic injury was prevented on the Day of Reckoning boxing event. On the undercard, the Ring cruiserweight champion, Jai Opetaia fought and defeated Ellis Zorro via a stunning knockout. The fight did not last long enough and came to a halt after Opetaia landed a clean hook on Zorro’s chin and knocked him out cold. It bears mention that Zorro lost consciousness on his feet and was about to land head first on the canvas, but didn’t. He was saved at the last moment.

Ellis Zorro’s head, instead of hitting the ground, collided with the fourth boxing rope, preventing him from suffering any major injury. Post the fight, the WBC president took credit for having the boxing rope in the first place. You may wonder, how does he come into the picture? Well, let’s find that out.

The credit goes to WBC

After the contest, the knockout went viral. This also caught the attention of none other than the president of the World Boxing Council, Mauricio Sulaiman. After witnessing the knockout, he couldn’t help but assert the fact that Zorro was saved by the fourth rope on the border of the ring. He revealed that the institution of the fourth rope to the ring was a novel idea and added that the WBC took the initiative to have four ropes instead of three.

While stating that this initiative has saved lives, he said, “Thank God for the 4th rope. It has saved many lives since its institution by the  @WBCBoxing What a great Ko win by cruiserweight sensation.”

Sulaiman does make some valid points. Moreover, this innovation undertaken by the WBC was the need of the hour as a precautionary step and prevented injuries. In addition, the WBC did not just implement a fourth rope but also made changes to it.

What differentiates the fourth rope?

In a later Tweet on X, the WBC revealed on their official Twitter handle that they purposely made the fourth rope less tight so that fighters, if they fall on it, capitulate in it without further injuring themselves.

Reflecting on the same, the WBC stated, “In the past, the lower rope was tighter and, whenever there were knockdowns or knockouts, boxers would get severely injured by hitting the back of their necks with it. The WBC implemented a 4th rope to have the lowest one loose and still prevent boxers to go off the ring.”

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