Heiland, 29, revealed his considerable frustration at being made to wait for his opportunity to fight for the WBC middleweight crown after what he understood to be an elimination victory over Matthew Macklin.
The southpaw defeat ex-world title challenger Macklin via tenth round knockout in Dublin two years ago to become number one contender, although Sulaiman says the contest was not a sanctioned elimination by the World Boxing Council.
“It is important to clarify that Heiland never fought a final eliminator bout,” Sulaiman exclusively told World Boxing News.
“He was never appointed as the mandatory contender. Heiland is number one, but he is not mandatory. To be ratified as the mandatory challenger, a contender must win a final elimination bout or be appointed through a majority vote by the Board of Governors.
“Heiland has the WBC’s full support and is a great kid. His baby has just been born and he deserves the opportunity. We just need to be careful with the situation as it’s a very delicate matter.
“As everybody knows, Gennady Golokvin was the mandatory challenger for two years before being made our champion,” he added.
The WBC have been actively attempting to make a massive encounter between Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez, whilst ‘GGG’ also has mandatory duties with other governing bodies as a four-belt title holder.
As one and two in the latest rankings, Heiland could conceivably be pitted against Chris Eubank Jr in a final elimination bout, but may have to wait until the upcoming WBC Convention in Miami to learn his fate moving forward.
