The opening ceremony of the 55th Convention of the World Boxing Council (WBC) was held in Baku

The opening ceremony of the 55th Convention of the World Boxing Council (WBC) was held in Baku on October 02, 2017.
First, a video about the history of boxing was demonstrated.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov, President of Azerbaijan Boxing Federation Kamaleddin Heydarov, the Chairman of Youth and Sports Committee of the Parliament Fuad Muradov, WBC President Maurizio Suleyman, champions boxers and representatives of the relevant sports organizations attended the event.
Then, the state flag of Azerbaijan was risen and the National Anthem was played.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov highlighted the participation of the world's most famous boxers in the event noting that the Convention will give a new impetus to the development of boxing. The Minister said that for the first time after the restoration the independence, Azerbaijan joined the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996 and won one medal. Last year, our athletes won 18 medals at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This is a manifestation of the great attention and care of the Azerbaijan state to the development of sports.
Azad Rahimov noted that Magomedrasul Mejidov won the title of three-time world champion in Germany that shows the Azerbaijan significant achievements in boxing.
Then the champions participating in the convention were presented. Then, a video about the career of the world champion Vitali Klitschko was shown to the participants of the event. 
V. Klichko expressed his gratitude to the Azerbaijan government for its high organizational role. He noted that all conditions for the development of sports have been created in Azerbaijan. Klichko thanked the President Ilham Aliyev for his support for sports and the holding of the Convention at a high level.
The Convention was continued with other presentations.
The legendary boxer Evander Holyfield announced the Convention opened after the performance of the children choir.
Champion boxer Bernard Hopkins expressed his gratitude to Azerbaijan for high-level organization. 
Talking about new belts, the WBC president spoke about the achievements and future plans.
Then, James Navey, a member of the Board of Directors, was awarded with a special prize for his contributions to WBC's development.