WBC unveil special 'COVID-19 Belt'
The World Boxing Council revealed today that it has created a special 'one-of-a-kind' belt to commemorate the coronavirus pandemic, aptly named the 'COVID-19 Belt'.
Boxing's most leather-happy sanctioning body often creates one-off straps to commemorate special occasions, such as the infamous 'Money Belt' made for Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Conor McGregor back in 2017, or the 'Maya Belt', designed to pay tribute to Mayan culture in Mexico and won by the least Mexican man on the planet, Tyson Fury.
But the COVID-19 Belt is perhaps the organisation's most unique and special strap of all; handcrafted by highly skilled artisans in Wuhan, China, where the deadly virus originated, the gorgeous, ruby red leather was dyed with blood generously donated by a number of people actually infected by COVID-19.
Such is the incredible attention to detail employed by the WBC in creating each of its commemorative straps, the thread used for the stitching around the belt is actually hair from bats purchased in a local Wuhan wet market. Moreover, the images of the coronavirus particle decorating the belt were embroidered using the ancient Suzhou method dating back over 2,000 years.
Flags of countries around the world surround the centrepiece of the belt, symbolising the impact the virus has had across the globe, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and confining billions of people to their homes for months, not to mention bringing boxing to a complete halt along with almost every other sport.
It is not yet known who will be fighting for the glorious COVID-19 Belt, or why the WBC actually made it, but anyone who follows boxing has come to expect this kind of thing by now.
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