DID ARUM EVEN WANT MAYWEATHER-PACQUIAO?
Pittsburgh, PA– To consider Top Rank chief Bob Arum the only villain in the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao implosion would excuse the stubbornness, incompetence and gall of the others involved, including Golden Boy CEO Richard Schafer, Mayweather adviser Al Haymon and Mayweather and Pacquiao themselves. What makes Arum particularly nauseating among these offenders, however, is the air of indifference he displayed once again towards the fans coupled with his quick trigger-finger in shooting down boxing’s most important bout since the Eighties. So who is Arum, a tough-as-nails negotiator and zealous advocate for his clients, who brings decades of experience and a Harvard brain to the sport? Or is he a divisive, cranky bigot and racist who’s strangled the sport for the benefit of his money machine Top Rank?
IMAGINE BOXING WITHOUT ARUM AND TOP RANK
The grumpy old man we see today has promoted mega fights in five decades, from Muhammad Ali to Marvin Hagler, Julio Cesar Chavez, Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather and now Pacquiao. He has outlasted even his old rival Don King and built arguably the world’s biggest and most prominent promotional banner, which currently features not only Pacquiao but several other titlists, including middleweight (160 lb.) Kelly Pavlik, junior middleweight (154) Yuri Foreman, lightweights (135) Edwin Valero and Humberto Soto and featherweight (126) Juan Manuel Lopez. In addition to building terrific prospects, including current young guns Matt Korobov, Vanes Martirosyan and Miguel “Mikey” Huerta, he continues to land television deals, the latest to occur beginning this weekend on Fox Sports Network. One could argue with a straight face that his impact has been felt more than any other figure currently in boxing.
WHY DO SOME SEE ARUM AS A VILLAIN?
With his success and star-studded stable, and with the attention and money he’s brought, how can some view him as the sport’s chief antagonist? Because we know better, and because we know him, that’s why. Those who truly care for the sport’s best interests know that he doesn’t, or at least if he did he’s lost that part of him. Here’s the problem though: He knows us too. He knows that the hard core – those of us who care about Roman Karmazin’s career – will watch anyway, and that he can fool the rest, the ones who wouldn’t know Paul Williams if he walked up to them. That’s how an American middleweight classic like Pavlik and Williams can fall through three times, at least two of those clearly because of Pavlik, and Arum can blame the Williams camp for it not being on the current 2010 schedule.
HAVING JUST DEEP SIXED PAVLIK-WILLIAMS!
Arum has continued to provide boxing with some terrific bouts in the past few years involving Pavlik, Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Joshua Clottey, but that’s due more to the strength of his roster than any attempt by Arum to provide the sport with the best fights possible. Consider the obvious matchups we’ve been deprived. Nonito Donaire stunned the boxing world by whipping flyweight sensation Vic Darchinyan three years ago, and his tremendous skills have been relegated to Top Rank pay-per-views against subpar opposition ever since, even while Darchinyan began calling him out again last year. Celestino Caballero, who (arguably unfairly) occupies higher pound-for-pound standing than Lopez, has called him everything but a maricón – oh wait, he called him that too – yet he cannot land the unification bout that fans deserve. Instead, Lopez will challenge Steven Luevano – a Top Rank fighter – in a much less intriguing contest showing once more Arum’s m.o., to match two top fighters from his stable so that in the end, no matter whose hand is raised, Arum wins.
BUT AT LEAST HE’S A PEACH TO DEAL WITH
Arum’s a jerk who spews venom at anyone who stands in his way, hanging up just in the past year or so on Greg Leon from BoxingTalk.com, Steve Kim from MaxBoxing.com and a reporter from the L.A. Times. Reporters have tread lightly in his path in order to avoid his wrath while maintaining their credentials, and he will kill the sport’s best bouts over vendettas and feuds, from Al Haymon and Oscar De La Hoya to Mayweather and Dan Goossen. As we speak he’s breathing down HBO Boxing’s Ross Greenburg neck to favor Pacquiao over Mayweather this March or else. Hopefully Greenburg will have the cojones, and the realization of his own power, to stand up to Arum, but let’s not hold our breath. Whoever you root for though, whether you’re a “Pacnut” or a “Money” man, open your eyes and read between the lines, and realize that while we may be asking the question about whether Arum’s good or bad for boxing, he’s not.
Brian Gorman