THE BEATLE and the Godfather were very much evident during a four-city media tour earlier this month, hyping a pay-per-view boxing event that the world might consider a consolation prize, but likely will purchase with gusto because more attractive options are not yet available.
The "Beatle" is Manny Pacquiao, the most popular, or at least recognizable, fighter on a global scale since Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali commanded attention that transcended their sport. During stops in Beverly Hills, Calif., Las Vegas, New York and Washington that officially began the drumbeating for his May 7 bout with Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand, Pacquiao modeled a new look, a shaggy, unbarbered noggin that apparently was inspired by the Fab Four's hysteria-inducing first trip to America 47 years earlier.
An aspiring singer who loves karaoke, Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) more closely resembled an Asian Paul McCartney than Ali, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard or Oscar De La Hoya, iconic fighters to whom he sometimes has been compared. Maybe we should start calling him the Fab Filipino.
And while the 39-year-old Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) was on the dais in each city as the designated foil, the most influential player in the behind-the-scenes drama is the "Godfather," otherwise known as Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum.
Make no mistake, what will transpire 2 1/2 months hence is as much or more Arum's baby as Pacquiao's latest superstar turn. What Arum has orchestrated is reminiscent of the closing scenes of the 1972 film classic, in which Michael Corleone ruthlessly and efficiently settles all family business, dispatching the other heads of the five families, getting his revenge and establishing his vision of dynasty.
Oh, sure, the matchup everyone most wants to see, Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KOs), has encountered more delays than the legendarily drawn-out construction of the Blue Route, so much so that fewer and fewer fight fans believe it will ever happen. But for that hardy and vanishing breed known as boxing purists, scraps with Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs), who is 0-1-1 in a pair of closely contested slugfests with Pacquiao, or WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KOs) probably would have been preferable to the finest fighter of his era thumping Mosley, a future Hall of Famer whose best days are in his rearview mirror.
Although Pacquiao isn't fearful of testing himself against any man wearing padded gloves, and probably could have forced Arum's hand had he insisted on Marquez or Berto, he has ceded near-total control of his ring career to the 79-year-old master manipulator. Like the youngest and most calculating of Vito Corleone's three sons, Arum knows how to protect his primary asset, and has no objection to sticking it to rivals to accomplish that purpose.
What's different about Pacquiao-Mosley is that Arum has brokered a deal by which an over-the-air television network, CBS, has joined with Showtime to sell boxing's hottest property to home viewers at $54.95 a pop. Given that Pacquiao's last five pay-per-view fights - all on HBO - generated total sales of 5.1 million, it's a certainty his pairing with Mosley again will top the million mark, and may even approach 2 million.
The CBS Corp. and Showtime, which is a CBS subsidiary, are co-producing a four-part documentary, "Fight Camp 360: Pacquiao vs. Mosley," and ads promoting the fight will be shown via both outlets. That figures to provide a major revenue boost, since CBS - which will air some of the spots during the ratings-heavy NCAA Tournament - is available in 115 million TV homes, to just 16.5 million for Showtime.
"I would want for nothing more than for my legacy to be that I brought boxing back to network television," said Arum, who has championed that cause since over-the-air TV fights began being phased out nearly 3 decades ago.
But Arum's altruistic pronouncements also are in keeping with a personal agenda. A former Department of Justice attorney during the Kennedy administration, Arum can make life as uncomfortable for perceived boxing enemies as his DOJ boss, Robert Kennedy, did for Jimmy Hoffa.
The onetime promoter of De La Hoya and Mayweather, Arum regards each as turncoats who bolted the Top Rank reservation after he had helped make them multimillionaires. Arum believes that HBO has tended to favor De La Hoya's company, Golden Boy Promotions, which might explain why he seems to have taken particular delight in bringing Pacquiao to Showtime, or why Mosley, who left Golden Boy to further his chances of landing the high-paying gig against Pacquiao, was selected instead of the De La Hoya-backed Marquez.
It's a cream pie in the face to HBO Sports executives, one of whom, senior vice president Kery Davis, is said to be under fire for not minding the store a little closer during a period in which the gap between HBO's Hertz and Showtime's Avis narrowed.
"It's a one-fight deal, and we're hopeful we can get back in the Manny Pacquiao business," HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said of the new reality in which Arum and his stepson, Top Rank president Todd duBoef, likely get to call more of the shots so long as "PacMan" remains boxing's must-see performer.
'Swift' salute
Tardy congratulations to the winners of the 15th annual "Salute to Philly Boxers" awards presentation last month at the New Palladium Ballroom.
Danny "Swift'' Garcia (19-0, 13 KOs), the junior welterweight prospect from the Juniata section, was named Philadelphia's Boxer of the Year for 2010, ending the 2-year reign of living legend Bernard Hopkins, a seven-time winner.
Other honorees were Alan Rubenstein, judge; Steve Smoger, referee; Derek "Bozy" Ennis, trainer; Moz Gonzalez and Eddie Woods, managers; Joey Eye, cutman; and Nate "Mr." Miller, "Blast from the Past." Special guests were Willie Torres and Marty Feldman.
DENVER—There were only two people profiled on the still massively popular CBS TV newsweekly magazine “60 Minutes” Sunday night.
One was embattled President Barack Obama, who used a boxing analogy in discussing the recent electoral disaster and other failures suffered in the first two years of his term by he and the Democratic Party.
Obama said dealing with economic and other turmoil was a “hard, long slog” and that “I will get knocked down a couple of times.”
Obama was interviewed by reporter Steve Kroft and the softball questions were nonexistent.
The second piece on the program was far friendler.
It was veteran reporter Bob Simon's gee whiz profile of the boxing, social and political wonder that is Manny Pacquiao.
The lead in, voiced by Simon, called Pacman “...quite simply, the best boxer in the world today...”
I wonder how that was received at the Floyd Mayweather Big Boy Mansion in Las Vegas?
Simon said Pacman walks to the ring as though he “is going to dance, not to a duel...as though he's has not a care in the world...”
To which Pacquiao said, impishly, “That's me, I'm always smiling.”
Dutiful promoter Bob Arum, who knows where his balut is salted and buttered said Pacman is “the best fighter, better than Muhammad Ali, who I promoted 25 times, because he was essentially a one-handed fighter...”
Then came the familiar recitation to fight fans, but brand new to most American watching the show which came on as soon as the NFL Oakland Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs with a field goal in overtime, of Manny's humble beginnings in General Santos City.
It was reported that he was one of six children and that he first donned boxing gloves for a reward of 100 pesos or about two US dollars.
Simon said that Pacman stowed away on a ferry boat to get to Manila at age 14 and that he was just 98 pounds for his first bout but weighted down his pockets to make the 105 pound lowest weight class requirement.
Pacquiao was only 16 then.
Coach Freddie Roach was asked if he knew how great Pacman's potential was upon first viewing at the Wild Card Gym.
“Yes, that first time...because he had so much explosion on his punches that it was like gunfire,” Roach said.
Sardonically, Simon asked how Manny felt about busting up the face of handsome Oscar de la Hoya.
“That's boxing, it is part of the game,” a beaming broadly Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao said his real goals and ambitions now lie in “public service” because he's already achieved so many dreams in the ring.
As expected, the clincher was Simon asking if Megamanny harbored presidential aspirations in the Philippines.
Of course, Manny beamed even more broadly.
“It's hard to have a comment right now,” Congressman Pacquiao said, “it is so far away.”
Simon could have quit there but he then asked the Pinoy Idol who he felt is the greatest boxer ever.
The imp appeared on screen, beaming ever more broadly.
A letdown the last time, Manny Pacquiao made sure he would leave a lasting impression on Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.
The world’s top pound-for-pound fighter rocked all three sparmates he faced late Tuesday, with Glen Tapia nursing a bloodied nose after the action-packed rounds that wowed a small audience at the Shape Up gym inside the Cooyesan Hotel in Baguio.
Among those who witnessed Pacquiao's return to championship form was Arum himself.
Arum was watching at ringside when the 31-year-old Pacquiao relentlessly attacked and bombed Tapia, Medina and Amir Khan, the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) light-welterweight champion, at an extended sparring session that started what trainer Freddie Roach earlier referred to as the "toughest two weeks" of training for the Filipino’s Nov. 13 title fight with Mexican Antonio Margarito.
“He had a bloody nose," said Filipino assistant trainer Nonoy Neri, referring to Tapia.
Khan, who sparred with Pacquiao for the first time since arriving in the country’s Summer Capital, went four rounds with the Pacman, while Medina and Tapia had three each.
Pacquiao’s staggering performance came a day after Arum, chairman of Top Rank Promotions, said during Monday’s open workout for members of the media that he was convinced the Filipino’s current condition would not be enough for him to beat the 32-year-old Margarito in their 12-round showdown at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Arum had the privilege of watching Pacquiao spar in training camp upon his arrival in the country Saturday, and was blunt enough to say that he didn’t like what he saw.
“If the fight happened on Saturday, Margarito would win the fight," Arum said before a stunned audience.
But the next time he was back at ringside, he obviously savored the experience.
The 78-year-old veteran promoter already left the gym by the time the seven-time world champion began to take it easy on Medina, but not after witnessing how Pacquiao threw left and right bombs at both Khan and Tapia.
Arum had stressed that Pacquiao has to be in real tough shape for him to get past the 5-foot-11 Margarito, a two-time world champion.
“You have to be in tough physical and mental shape. You have to be, or else, you’re not gonna beat him (Margarito)," said Arum, who’s set to return to the U.S. today.
“So Manny knows that. I mean, Manny knows more about boxing than I do, because you know he knows what it takes to be in the kind of shape that he has to be in to win the fight."
Deciding to defer his return to Manila for another day in the aftermath of the destruction wrought by typhoon Juan in the northern part of the country, Pacquiao is expected to return to Manila by late Thursday night, shortly after sparring for the last time in his Baguio training camp.
He and Roach will then resume training at the Elorde gym in Quezon City over the weekend, before flying to Los Angeles late Saturday evening. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV
Top Rank Promotions big boss Bob Arum warned Manny Pacquiao against turning complacent in his training, saying the Filipino seven-division champion is facing a dangerous opponent in Mexican Antonio Margarito.
Arum, who arrived in Manila last Saturday to oversee Pacquiao’s preparations, said he saw how Margarito, whom the Filipino icon faces this coming November 14 for the World Boxing Organization super-welterweight crown, trains, adding he sees danger for the reigning junior welterweight champ.
“He (Pacquiao) better step up his training because this guy (Margarito) poses very, very unique dangers,” Arum told media men upon landing at the airport. “This, plus the fact that Margarito has his advantage in height, weight and reach,”
“He is training extremely hard and I think his new trainer is doing wonders,” he added, in reference to Margarito’s newly-hired handler Robert Garcia.
Despite hearing Pacquiao’s reported insufficient altitude training in Baguio, marked by cancellation of sparring sessions due to injury and sickness and his frequent trips to Manila, Arum expressed confidence in the Filipino’s capacity to make himself in tip-top shape comes fight time.
In the same interview, Arum, likewise, disclosed that tickets are selling like hot cakes and that attendance might break the record set in Pacquiao’s lasst fight at the huge Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
According to Arum, the paid attendance alone promises to dwarf the just over forty one thousand that attended Pacquiao's fight against Joshua Clottey. That fight being a March encounter with the little known Clottey resulting in a unanimous decision win for the newly-el;ected congressman.
Besides Pacquiao’s and Margarito’s popularity among the Texsas boxing populace, he attributed the sales to the drawing power of fighters seeing action in the undercard.
Appearances from fast rising Philly welterweight Mike Jones, Youngstown's former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and amateur star Guillermo Rigondeaux will undoubtedly bolster both the pay per view buy rate as well as the live attendance figures, he predicted.
Arum also said that the fact that the rangy Mexican brawler was campaigning to regain his license to fight in the United States due to the notorious loaded hand wraps incident, and his last fight against that resulted in a devastating loss also serves as added interest among fight fans to see the bout.
Congressman-elect Manny Pacquiao's boxing promoter, Bob Arum, doesn't need any inspiration. But it appears he will have it as he makes his way from General Santos City to Las Vegas and takes out a yellow pad and makes a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight work over his approximate 14-hour flight.
Neither Arum, nor any foreigners, legally could do much more than support Pacquiao emotionally as it's against the law there during election periods. He couldn't speak publicly nor do interviews on the politics there.
How to make Mayweather vs. Pacquiao:
I say let them fight however each wants regarding blood-doping and let the one who did the anti-doping testing have an asterisk after his name win or lose.
Maybe it's not the very best idea out there, but the fight gets made already.
Once you pass 33 and one - half years old you are out of your physical boxing prime. I'm also giving Mayweather an additional 6 months because he did retire for 22 months, but when he came back against Juan Manuel Marquez he was as sharp as a razor with no rust.
There are so many factors that we have to go over again to make this fight. Cowboys Stadium could be available in mid November while the Cowboys are on the road for two weeks and it's going to take that long to get the stadium ready.
Otherwise it will have to be made for after late January at the earliest - after the Cowboys' season. Granted, nobody wants to travel to Texas in late January because its weather is unpredictable.
Coming back from long fights with new champions and losers Arum can handle, but the thought of a popular welterweight politician is new for Arum.
MANILA, Philippines – A historic prize fight between current pound-for-pound champ Manny Pacquiao and undefeated boxing sensation Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still a possibility, according to Top Rank, Inc. head honcho Bob Arum.
Arum arrived in Manila Thursday morning then proceeded to General Santos City to support his ward's political campaign. The Filipino boxing sensation is seeking to clinch the Sarangani Province congressional seat on May 10.
Arum said he is certain that Pacquiao will be victorious in his second political bid.
“I’m excited to be able to introduce him in the next fight as Congressman Manny Pacquiao,” he said.
After the elections, Arum said he hopes to negotiate for the much-clamored showdown between Pacquiao and Mayweather.
“Yes I'm going to try to make it happen, I think it can… Sometime towards the end of the year,” the Top Rank head remarked.
Pacquiao and Mayweather were slated to fight on March 13 but they disagreed on the Olympic-style drug testing protocol.
According to Arum, he believes the disagreement can be ironed out so that the fight will push through. “I'm not going to give details but I think we can work it out,” he added.
He added that Mayweather, who defeated Shane Mosley via unanimous decision on May 1, cannot keep running away from the Pacquiao bout. “He's got nowhere else to go," he stated.
Aside from Arum, several boxing writers from the US also arrived in the country to get more news about the 7-division world champ.
Said Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times: “Anything I write about Manny gets incredible readership.” – With a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News
GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines -- Mid-morning has seen a celebrity arrive at the East Asia Royale Hotel near Manny Pacquiao's compound and home base. Boxing promoter Bob Arum, dressed in a tropical weight gray T-shirt and slacks, has come straight here from his home in Las Vegas.
His mission today: to accompany Pacquiao and his campaign convoy to a rally two hours away in Sarangani province.
"You've got to understand -- I'm not here to talk about boxing. I'm not here as a boxing promoter, but as a wanna-be James Carville," says Arum, who refuses to speculate whether the highly anticipated mega-bout between his client, Pacquiao, and Floyd Mayweather will ever happen, Olympic-style drug testing or not.
This is Arum's ninth trip to the Philippines to attend to Pacquiao's needs. They discuss his career, they meet for training camps.
On this trip, Arum says he is only here to support Pacquiao's run for Congress in Sarangani.
"I haven't talked to Manny about boxing since I congratulated him on the Clottey fight," Arum said of Pacquiao's most recent victory over Ghanian fighter Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in March.
So there will be no talk about Mayweather.
As Arum drinks a cup of coffee, two star-struck teenage boys beg for a photo. Arum gets up, puts his arm around the boys and smiles widely for the father's camera.
"That'll be on Facebook soon enough," one Arum employee calls out, and the restaurant erupts in laughter.
As Pacquiao's promoter, Arum is easily recognizable to Filipino sports fans. "But if [trainer] Freddie Roach walked in here," Arum says, "nobody would even look at me."
Why would Arum travel thousands of miles from his Las Vegas comfort zone to spend several days in the steamy southern reaches of Mindanao island? He says he believes in what Pacquiao wants to do for his people -- to help lift them from their poverty as a public servant, rather than a boxing hero.
Pacquiao's failed 2007 run for the House of Representatives "was totally amateur," Arum says. "This one is more professionally run."
According to Arum, local polls and anecdotal samplings of the people suggest Pacquiao, 31, is leading his 61-year-old opponent from an entrenched political clan, Roy Chiangbian, by a 60-40 margin.
Pacquiao's impassioned speeches during recent political rallies are much improved, Arum says. "No matter how much from the heart his message is, he's got to be more organized," the promoter says.
Does Pacman stand a chance?
Arum concedes that politics in the Philippines "are corrupt -- the people who win are from powerful political families.
"They have no interest in doing anything other than lining their pockets," Arum says. "Manny has the will and the desire to really inspire change. Food, water, schools -- he wants to build a hospital. There isn't even a hospital in Sarangani."
The promoter has a vested interest in seeing his most famous cash cow remain in the boxing ring. But Arum says he is an absolute believer in Pacquiao's mission to improve the lives of impoverished Filipinos who experience the hardscrabble life that defined Pacman's childhood here.
"When you grow up in the poverty that Manny did -- poverty that you and I can't even comprehend -- when you get away from it, you either want to stay away and, like Mayweather, live through your cars and your homes," Arum says. "Or you can have this desire to lift up the people, which Manny apparently has."
Pacquiao is such a devout Catholic, he conducts a full Mass before and after each boxing match. He wears rosary beads and prays constantly.
"He's a very spiritual person. He credits his success to God. He really does," Arum says. "And I think he has a calling from God to improve the lives of his people."
And what if Pacquiao should win the May 10 election, and announce to Arum and the sporting world that he is stepping away from boxing?
"Then I'd throw a retirement party for him," Arum says. "I don't care if people don't believe that. He's a very special person and I'm not going to interfere with that.
"I'm here to help him. Whichever direction he goes, my job is to be supportive. That's why I'm over here, to see what little I can do to help him get elected."
“No question now, especially since both of their last fights are perceived as walkovers, that 99.5 percent of the public wants to see Manny Pacquiao fight Floyd Mayweather next. Those two bouts were not competitive because both guys are so good.
“This is the biggest fight of all time, Mayweather against Pacquiao, and it has to happen. Now the fight is doable.
“I mean, out of 100 people, over 99.5 percent want this fight next. The other .5 percent, they don't care and they don't really give a spit. With any big fight, there is a right time to make the fight.
“The public demand reminds of when Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier the first time in 1971 so you have to everything you can (as a promoter) to support that, to make it happen.
“I had my doubts on Mayweather wanting it but now Floyd now genuinely wants the fight against Manny. Floyd knows you can't putter around. For right now, I will not talk about negotiations and I won't go into negotiations showing my cards. These issues have to be talked about in private, not in public, and that was the mistake by Mayweather's people last time we tried to make it.
“I don't want that to happen again. If everything goes well, a good time for that fight would be November, that would be a perfect time.”
GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Like the cinematic “Blues Brothers,” Jake and Elwood, Manny Pacquiao is on a mission from God.
That is what just landed promoter Bob Arum said upon his arrival here after flights from Las Vegas to Manila and then Manila to Pacman's hometown.
Arum arrived just in time, about 10 a.m. Thursday local time, to head out for an afternoon political rally in Sarangani as his Congressional campaign against billionaire Roy Chiongbian winds down. Voting for the office takes place, along with many other local and national elections including a battle for the Philippine presidency, on Monday.
Arum said something that he's told me before, that he will never go against the Pinoy Idol's political ambitions because the fighter is drawing on divine inspiration.
“Manny credits all his success to God, he really does,” the 78 year old Arum said. “Manny really feels he has a calling from God to run for office and to help the people, especially the poorest of the poor.
“It is not window dressing with Manny, it's a real spirituality just like another of my fighters, the rabbi to be and world junior middleweight champion, Yuri Foreman. Manny believes he is being directed by God so you cannot try to push him in another direction.
“My role is to be supportive here, I am not here to talk about (Floyd) Mayweather or any other fights. I did not come here with any fight offers, for Mayweather or anyone else. I don't want to distract Manny from the election campaign.
“I'm here, in a limited way, as his political adviser,” Arum said, joking. “So I am a would be James Carville in this election.”
Arum said a misguided report that Pacman would fight Mayweather on Sept. 10 is “totally absurd.
“Who could properly stage such a big fight so close to Labor Day? I don't know where that one came from.”
Arum said he took Lunesta 3, a sleeping medication, to make his 13 hour flight from Vegas with a stopover in Vancouver easier to bear.
“They treat me great on Philippine Air Lines,” Arum said. “I have made nine trips over here to see Manny. They all know me.
“My only job here is to see that the new congressman from Sarangani gets elected, meaning Manny Pacquiao.
“When I get back to the States, after the elections here, I will go to work on the Mayweather fight. As a foreigner here, I am restricted and rightly so, from political participation. I am just here in support of Manny's ambition which is to help his own people.”
Arum said that should Pacman grant Mommy Aleng Dionesia's wish that he retire from the ring, he will also support that.
“I personally don't see that,” Arum said. “But, if Manny makes that decision, will support. I will throw him a big retirement party but I don't think this is what he will do."
Top Rank Promotions' matchmaker, Bruce Trampler, has been treated and released from an Atlantic City hospital after having potentially suffered a minor stroke on Friday during a weekend promotion leading to Saturday night's middleweight title clash between Kelly Pavlik and Sergio Martinez at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.
"Apparently, he seems to be okay, but we're having him go to the Cleveland Clinic on Monday so that they can check him out thoroughly," said Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, of the multi-specialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio. "Obviously, it was something, so the Cleveland Clinic has the best neurological department, so we want to get him checked out."
Arum said that Trampler "didn't seem right" on Friday.
"I'm not a doctor, but he wasn't feeling well, he was slurring his words, and he didn't seem right. So we got him to the hospital, they took good care of him, and they're taking good care of him at the Atlantic City hospital right now," said Arum. "I spoke to him this morning, he's fine. But he came in Thursday, and he wasn't feeling well all day on Friday. But he seems to be fine, now, and he's going to go to the Cleveland Clinic for a checkup."
GRAPEVINE, Texas -- They say everything is bigger in Texas, and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum thinks big.
So it seemed only natural that Arum, along with his new best buddy, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, would get together to put on a fight at Jones' spectacular $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
That is where welterweight titleholder and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao will face former titleholder Joshua Clottey on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET, $49.95) in a fight that Arum considers one of the crowning achievements of his storied 44-year career as a boxing promoter.
The reason is simple: location, location, location.
Pacquiao-Clottey is certainly a significant fight just based on the involvement of Pacquiao, boxing's biggest worldwide star. But the stadium also plays a major role in generating interest.
"Much of the buzz is because it's at Cowboys Stadium. Of course, it's Manny Pacquiao, but it's also Cowboys Stadium," said Bill Caplan, Arum's longtime publicist and boxing lifer.
Said HBO senior vice president Mark Taffet, who runs HBO PPV, "I've been involved in nearly 160 pay-per-view events since 1991 with HBO PPV. This is the first pay-per-view fight we are doing in a stadium, so it's a totally unique experience for us. From a business perspective, as you know, Pacquiao-Clottey is called 'The Event,' so there was very specific recognition about the importance of Cowboys Stadium and what we believed that this stadium was bringing to the table."
That's exactly what Arum hoped for when he talked to Jones about getting away from the same old, same old casino fights.
"I am really, really excited," Arum said. "You get stale doing the same thing over and over again, going back to the casinos to put on these big events. With this event going to a fabulous, fabulous stadium like Cowboys Stadium, we're bringing the fights to the people. I think boxing can once again establish its place among the major sports in this country as it is in so many places in the world."
Promoting fights in major arenas is not new for Arum, but it's been awhile. And now he is happy to return and do it at Cowboys Stadium, where a crowd of 45,000 is expected.
"He's been promoting for 40-something years and this really gets his juices flowing," Caplan said. "It recharges Bob's battery. It's huge in a business way and in a psychological way for Bob. The interest and the enthusiasm never ends if you do new things."
Arum promoted the first fight at the Houston Astrodome, then considered an architectural marvel, when Muhammad Ali defended the heavyweight championship against Cleveland Williams in 1966.
"That building just blew me away. I had never seen anything like it before in my life, the suites, the amenities, there was nothing like it in the world," Arum said. "Now it's 44 years later and I'm back in another part of Texas. Cowboys Stadium is the most phenomenal building I have ever been in. Words really can't describe it, from that big screen [the stunning 72-foot high, 160-foot wide, $40 million HD video board] to the restaurants to the electronics. It is something really, really special. So it is a really great honor for me to be the first one to do a fight at the Astrodome and the first person to do a fight in Cowboys Stadium. I love that. … It's just thrilling."
Besides opening the Astrodome to boxing, he also promoted what turned out to be the final fight at old Yankee Stadium when Ali defended the title against Ken Norton in 1976.
Two years later, Arum promoted the first fight at the Superdome in New Orleans, where Ali regained the title from Leon Spinks in a 15-round decision in front of more than 63,000 fans.
Arum's last major stadium fight came in 1998, when he brought Oscar De La Hoya's mandatory welterweight title defense against Patrick Charpentier to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. That fight, a massive mismatch, still drew more than 40,000, in large part because of the exotic location.
And on June 5, Arum will promote the first fight at the new Yankee Stadium, where junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman will defend his belt for the first time, against Miguel Cotto.
Arum considers the Cowboy Stadium fight a significant part of his legacy, on par with those other major events.
"There are certain milestones that you have in your career that you look back on that were very significant," Arum said. "Doing the first fight in the Astrodome, the last fight at the old Yankee Stadium, doing the first one at the Superdome. Those are significant. This to me is equally as significant, opening up this magnificent facility to boxing."
Perhaps it is more significant because of how long it's taken him to return to a major stadium. For the past few years, he has talked almost incessantly about putting on a fight in a stadium. He talked about it so often without it coming off that he began to sound like the boy who cried wolf.
Arum had talked with officials of the San Francisco Giants about hosting a fight, and it went nowhere. Same with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He also continually floated the idea of a final fight at old Yankee Stadium before it closed without pulling it off. Then when the new stadium opened, he was at it again, finally closing a much-discussed deal with the Yankees last week for Cotto-Foreman.
"I tried both places [San Francisco and Los Angeles] and the people I was dealing with wanted to do it on my dime and wanted me to pay the cost of doing one of these fights, which made it economically not feasible," Arum said. "But Jerry is paying me to come here and he will get his costs back. And the Yankees are giving me a guarantee and then they get their costs back, so it is economically feasible to do it in both places."
Promoting Pacquiao-Clottey at Cowboys Stadium became a reality when Arum got together with Jones, who has landed several major events for his lavish facility, including last month's NBA All-Star Game (which drew more than 100,0000) as well as a future Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four.
Arum and Jones, a boxing fan, originally hoped to bring the Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight to the stadium Saturday. However, the Mayweather/Golden Boy Promotions side rejected it, despite a record $25 million guarantee from Jones (who put up about $6 million for Pacquiao-Clottey).
Mayweather and Golden Boy insisted the fight take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which has long been where most of boxing's biggest fights take place.
When Pacquiao-Mayweather imploded, Arum matched Pacquiao with Clottey and needed a site.
"When it fell apart I felt bad because the MGM was expecting that fight," Arum said. "So I called [MGM executive] Richard Sturm and I said, 'That fight's off, I'm sorry. But Pacquiao is fighting Clottey and we'd like to do it at the MGM.' And they told me, 'Sorry, the date's taken.'"
The MGM had set it aside for Mayweather to fight an alternate opponent, although it never came off because he instead wound up signing to fight Shane Mosley on May 1 at the MGM.
Arum was infuriated that the MGM picked Mayweather over Pacquiao. He said it forced him to rethink things.
"Once I heard that I said you have been a fool for them all these years because you can't rely on them, you can't rely on anybody, and even though you live in this town [Las Vegas] you have to increase your horizons," Arum said. "And I called up Jerry Jones. We made the deal and after I did that I said, 'Hey, this is the way to go.' Then as soon as I knew the Yankees were interested, we went there for Foreman-Cotto."
Although Arum was angry with the perceived snub by the MGM, he said it was the kick in the butt he needed.
"Like everybody else in boxing, we let ourselves get into a rut," Arum said of his company. "And instead of being innovative and trying new things we did the convenient thing, which is to do these fights in casinos, where you certainly don't have to put the same effort into them. They're easier, whether it's Atlantic City or Las Vegas. Kelly Pavlik fights, boom, Atlantic City. All the other fights, Las Vegas. It was a pattern we got into. Cotto fights, Madison Square Garden. So a lot of that was repetitious. A lot of the reason it was so repetitious is it was easy.
"We're all human, we're all busy and we tend to do what is easy, not what is innovative and not what means more to the sport."
Jones is glad Arum sought him out. He envisions his stadium being a possible site for any major fight and wants to compete with Las Vegas.
"I wanted that fight here between those two fighters [Pacquiao and Mayweather] worse than my next breath and so I was willing to wait as long as I needed to wait to have them join me," Jones said. "Bob was real sensitive and made it clear that the circumstances were not a negative about the stadium or my interest in it. It was more about just getting a fight done. I am glad I went through it because it made me ready for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight. It was like, 'Put me in, Coach, I'm hot.' Somehow and someway we wanted to have Manny fighting here and here it is."
There have been several major fights outside of casinos in recent years. New York's Madison Square Garden, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Toyota Center in Houston and FedExForum in Memphis all have hosted major fights. But they were the exception to Las Vegas.
"This is much more exciting than [a casino fight]," Arum said. "I love Las Vegas. I live in Las Vegas. Tickets are limited by the size of the arena and they generally go to the high-rolling casino customers. Here, the sales pitch is for the public. There is no casino buying tickets for people to bring them in to gamble.
"I have not in many, many years, since the Astrodome opened, had a situation where the venue plays as big a role as the fighters in selling the event. I certainly believe that going to these large venues and moving big boxing matches around the country will certainly help in branding the sport of boxing and making it what it always should have been, a major sport in this country. I love Las Vegas, but you cannot be a major sport if all of your biggest events are in one city where people have to come from all over to attend the event. The Super Bowl wouldn't be as important or as big if it was held in the same city every year."
Arum said he has a handshake agreement with owners of the New York Giants to put a fight in the new Meadowlands stadium in the spring. He also said he and Jones are talking about doing two or three events at Cowboys Stadium each year, including a Hispanic-themed card later this year.
"There was a comfort zone in [Las Vegas]," Arum said. "I could stay home and my office was two blocks away. But then this situation happened [with the MGM] and I realized that what I was doing was because I was lazy. What MGM did forced us to rethink the situation."
Taffet has worked alongside Arum on numerous fights since they did the first HBO PPV in 1991, the Evander Holyfield-George Foreman heavyweight title fight. He said Arum's focus on returning to a stadium is no surprise.
"Bob always challenges us to come up with new and better ways to do things on every aspect of the promotion," Taffet said. "Bob himself continually looks for new ways to do things. So we accepted this assignment in that light and I give him credit. He's been in the sport for decades and he still has energy and the determination to continue to do things in a new way and in a better way."
BOB ARUM: I am really excited. You get stale doing the same thing over and over again. Going back to casinos to put on these big events, I think that going to this fabulous stadium like Cowboys Stadium bringing the fights to the people, I think that boxing once again establishes boxing as being one of the major sports in this country as it is so many other places in the world. .
Can you compare doing the first fight at the Astrodome to doing the first fight at Cowboys Stadium?
BOB ARUM: 1966 we led with Ali and did a couple of fights in England and in Germany and then we got a call from the Astrodome and he said bring Ali down here and I’ll protect you guys and we’ll do a fight against Cleveland Williams. We did and that building just blew me away. I’ve never seen anything before in my life. Suites and the amenities and there was nothing like anywhere in the world. And now 35 years later in another part of Texas, in Cowboys Stadium, it is the most phenomenal building I have ever been in. Words can’t describe it. You have to see it in person, the big screen, and all the restaurants. It is something really special. It is an honor for me to do a fight, Ali vs. Cleveland Williams in the old Astrodome and the first person, company, to do a fight in Cowboys Stadium and in June to do the first fight n the new Yankee Stadium, Foreman/Cotto, it is just thrilling. [note: Arum promoted the last fight in old Yankee Stadium, Ali-Norton III in 1976]
Is there a concern this may be Manny’s last fight with the election coming up?
BOB ARUM: I am not concerned with it. It is Manny’s decision in whatever way he would want to go. I spoke to Manny and I get no such vibes from him. He’s planning to fight again at least once this year should he be successful against Clottey and he has said nothing to me about retirement.
Could he do both?
BOB ARUM: If the Filipino Congressmen are anything like the US Congressmen, they sit around and do nothing most of the year so why wouldn’t he be able to fight.
Ticket sales?
BOB ARUM: As of this morning there were just over 4000 tickets left to sell and are moving rapidly towards a sellout. At least half are in the $200 plus category. There are less than 1000 in the $750 and $500 category. Party passes are up to Jerry. Jerry is the all-time best promoter, Party Passes for standing room only.
How does it feel compared to Las Vegas or a NY fight?
BOB ARUM: As far as Las Vegas it is more exciting. I love Las Vegas and live in Las Vegas, but the tickets in Las Vegas are limited to the size of the arena and they generally go to high rolling customers. Here the sales pitch is for the public and the same goes in NY, the public has to buy the tickets. It is completely different from a casino setting. That being said, I have not seen, since the Astrodome opened, a situation where the venue plays as big a role as the fighters in selling the event.
Does the venue overshadow the fight?
BOB ARUM: Whatever works. I have never had an experience where the venue has played such a paramount role in the promotion, but all that is good because the proof is in the pudding. It has helped us sell the tickets and it’s helped us get the publicity. The PPV numbers look very strong. The cable companies and the satellite providers are spending tremendous amounts of money advertising this event. I am going to experience the same in June in Yankee Stadium. The first boxing event in sparkling Yankee Stadium will spark tremendous interest and stories about the great fights that took place in the old Yankee Stadium. Like Louis/Schmeling and Ali/Norton.
Is this a great way to re-introduce the sport to the masses?
BOB ARUM: I believe that going to thee large venues and moving these boxing matches around the country will certainly help in branding the sport of boxing and making it what it should have been, a major sport in this country. You can’t be a major sport if all of your big events are in one city where people have to come from all over to attend the event. The Super Bowl, for example, wouldn’t be as important or as big, in my opinion, if it was held in the same city every year.
What have you learned about Jerry Jones?
BOB ARUM: No. 1, I met Jerry about 20 years ago when Jimmy Johnson brought him to one of the fights I was promoting in Las Vegas then I had a number of conversations with him and Al Davis when they were discussing a television deal internally from the NFL. They quizzed me on closed circuit television and various things. When we were talking about the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight, he called me at my house and said that he would like to put a bid in. We tried to arrange a meeting in Dallas and Richard Schaefer wouldn’t get on the plane and that went no place, so when the fight fell apart and we got Clottey as an opponent I called Jerry to see if he was interested and he said yes. He invited Todd and I to the Eagles playoff game on a Saturday and on Sunday we met in Jerry’s suite and within an hour cut the deal. What has blown me away is what an unbelievable promoter this guy is. He never gets tired. We did a two-day trip to Mexico. He kept going. He never stopped doing interviews. He did dozens of interviews with Mexican press. He has been one of the great partners that I have ever worked with.
JERRY JONES: It is great to be on the phone in this workout room and I feel like we’re ready to go practice football. My wife and I would travel the country to watch fights. We saw Bob’s fight at the Superdome and we’ve been to Las Vegas and are great fans of Las Vegas. We saw Ali fight several times and saw Sugar Ray and Marvin Hagler fight a lot. I had more time to go to the fights but since the Cowboys I have been gassed a couple of times and watch Showtime and HBO and it’s been always something that I have followed. It is unique that where I grew up in Arkansas we had a great fighter named Sonny Ingram, a Golden Gloves legend and he had a great boxing program out of my boy’s club and I lived a boy’s club. We had great fighters come through there and I weighed about 100 pounds and we’d get up there and box it up when we wanted to so I had involvement as a youngster but more involved as a fan.
What was your initial reaction when the first meeting fell through?
JERRY JONES: First off I have learned not to get disappointed. Just keep trying to make things work. I wanted that fight here between those two fighters worse than my next breath and so I was willing to wait as long as I needed to wait to have them join me. Bob was real sensitive and made it clear that the circumstances were not a negative about the Stadium or my interest in it. It was more about just getting a fight done. I am glad I went through it because it made me ready for the Pacquiao/Clottey fight. It was like, ‘put me in coach, I’m hot.’ Somehow and someway we wanted to have Manny fighting here and here it is.
JERRY JONES: First of all, there is no question it creates an intensity that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Let me give you an example…Tex Schramm for 29 years was the Cowboys. I wasn’t there two hours as owner of the Cowboys and he told me that the NFL and the Cowboys could never be a studio game. Everybody follows football primarily through television and only 7% of our fans have ever been in an NFL stadium. So where is all of the energy behind the sport? Numbers of people being involved. The NFL is where it is today because of that. You can take the pageantry of a crowd and the social aspect of having a huge crowd and having people in that crowd that aren’t necessarily the big hitters. The $50 people that are in there. You can get that out over television. That does help the sport. You don’t need that incentive to get the fighters to compete. The 100,000 people led the NBA players to play the most energetic All-Star game that they have had. I really believe that this is good for Las Vegas, not a negative for Las Vegas, to have a great fight in front of thousands of people.
Bob, what do you think about Clottey having Lenny De Jesus, as his trainer after his other trainer could not get his visa?
BOB ARUM: He and Lenny are really getting along well. He claims Lenny has taught him a lot of new things. Lenny has been around the sport for a long time, mostly as a cut man but also as a trainer. You know how much of boxing is mental and Joshua says that he feels confident. Can Lenny De Jesus be mentioned in the same category as a Freddie Roach? Of course not, but there aren’t many trainers around that are in the same category as Freddie.
Is Pacquiao stardom a reason you wanted to have a fight at your place?
JERRY JONES: Manny has had everything to do with it and not because he is on this call with me, but Bob Arum had everything to do with it as well. We have such visibility that we didn’t want to create interest, and I have a responsibility to the Cowboys and the NFL, we don’t want to deal with anything but the top. I made my mind up with the commitment to this stadium that I wasn’t going to be associated with anything but the best and working with the best. The make-up of Bob and Manny is what influenced me. I want to do everything I can to create interest in the stadium. Having Manny here and this competition, it says everything that I want to say, especially to our Mexican boxing fan and football fans and Hispanic fans, but also to everyone that has invested any way in this stadium. Whether it be buying suites or seats. This is going to be big time. I am going to deliver for what it means to you to be involved in this stadium. I am aligned with boxing and I have all the respect in the world for boxing and always thought it needs more exposure.
Are there plans for fights in the future?
JERRY JONES: It is a pleasure dealing with Bob and he came with such great recommendations from people he has dealt with in the past. He certainly has been a credit to sports, period. Obviously it has been oriented to the sport of boxing. I have every incentive to be involved with our stadium in the future of boxing. Logistically it is located right but it has a synergy with a lot of our fan base. It is no accident that there are going to be many football players at this fight. There is a common interest there. They are both physical sports. All of this fits with the Cowboys. I have arrived with a good horse in Bob. It would have been different if I had to partner up with someone of less integrity.
BOB ARUM: It is our intention to bring a lot of big matches to Cowboys Stadium, the fans here are terrific. This is the greatest venue in the world and it is something that can make boxing more visible. We have some of the best boxers in the world that will be coming here to watch the fight – Kelly Pavlik, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Those are fighters that one-day I hope to be talking to Jerry about having them star at Cowboys Stadium. Once this fight is over, Jerry, who has become a good friend of mine, we’ll sit together and plot the future.
Would you be willing to take a smaller all-Hispanic event in the future?
JERRY JONES: I am going to have to get used to it because there is not another Manny Pacquiao out here at this particular time. In sports we are al aware and have the promise of how great they are now and hopefully there is one or others that can stand up. I think if we can count on the coming on of other stars and if you can count on that the answer is yes. I could be interested in up and coming stars that could be less than Manny.
BOB ARUM: This weekend we have on this undercard we have some unbelievably talented young. We have Jose Benavides who is only 17 years old and people are saying he is the next big thing in boxing. Roberto Mariquain from Dallas who is coming in in Dallas Cowboy regalia and everybody says he is a future star. Salvador Sanchez III, the nephew of the late great Salvador Sanchez will be on the card. So there are a lot of future stars out there. There are going to be stars in the audience like Juan Manuel Lopez, the featherweight champion. Miguel Cotto will be here. All the fighters that we have been promoting will be coming to Dallas because they want to see for themselves this incredible venue and they hope that one day they will be featured on a card at Cowboys Stadium.
Have Cowboy players expressed interest in coming to the fight?
JERRY JONES: Michael Irvin is sitting right here waiting for Manny to come in and train today. I have invited all of the former Cowboys and many of them were there when we announced the fight as well as everybody that is on the team. I have had two coaches that are inordinate fight fans. Jimmy Johnson will be here with me, and Bill Parcells who is not going to be able to make it. We have a lot of fight fans among the Cowboys and NFL players in general. The NFL is reluctant to crossover with other sports but the people recognize that there is a crossover and that really excites me. The NFL raises awareness to all sports and that is a big thing to me. We are getting short on time and I want to create some action while I am still in the ring.
Since I am standing right here looking at Michael Irvin, I will use him as an example. Michael has an aura that everyone that is associated with him and won championships that people say we couldn’t have done it without him. He certainly was a great receiver and made a lot of great plays, but that wasn’t it. He had a way of creating energy. He did it at practice. He would challenge at practice. He would lift the level. Manny has it and a lot of people say what is it. It is taking a talent and maximizing it and walking the walk. When we see that done successfully and taken to a level, he walks in and has that aura. The world knows what his countrymen feel about him – all of that comes in the room with him. That is why he will be the first fighter to fight in Cowboys Stadium. He is an impressive young man and in the NFL right now we are looking at all of the college players that were seniors and juniors that want to come in the NFL and it is one with interviews and you have a team of 40 people, doctors and psychiatrists looking for it. You need to get around all that and you and I can see it.
BOB ARUM: Last week Julio Cesar Chavez Jr was in LA and I think he is a tremendous talent who has underachieved and part of it is his work ethic that leaves a little to be desired. So Bruce Trampler took him to the Wild Card Gym and he watched Manny Pacquiao train. His eyes opened because he realized that he had never really trained seriously after watching that. Manny trains for four straight hours without taking a break. The reason Manny Pacquiao is so good is what made Michael Irvin so good… they worked at it and they outworked everyone else.
JERRY JONES: To make that point, training in two-a-days in really hot weather is the greatest challenge for any football player. During two-a-days when you get the break, people go in and lay down in air conditioning and drink liquids and conserve their energy for the afternoon and this is really the challenging time. They used to have to go find Michael Irvin running with is pads on in the hot sun in Texas. Everyone on the team would know that. When he would walk out and sometimes he wouldn’t even have been to bed and everybody knew that too, and he’d walk out and everybody would be stretching on the field and he would just point and say who is it, who is going to outwork me today? That may be it. It is the work.
Will the ticket tax and no income tax give you an upper hand at Cowboys Stadium?
JERRY JONES: I know it gives us an upper hand on anything else we do by having no income tax in Texas. It isn’t just boxing.
BOB ARUM: That is not an accurate statement of the situation. Texas has a 3% boxing commission tax and a 5% state tax so it is an 8% tax. Nevada raised its tax from 4% to 6% and I believe it was justified because our schools are 50th out of 50 among the states. People have to learn that they have to pay for services and they have to pay for decent schools. So as a boxing promoter that does events in Las Vegas I am more than happy to do my share and to go from 4 to 6% is nothing particularly when kids in Nevada are not getting educated. Now maybe that shows my politics but that’s what I believe. There are no income taxes in Nevada, Texas or Florida and as far as that is concerned it is a level playing field.
JERRY JONES: It is numbers. Where the upper hand is, it is possible for some great fights, it is possible to have 100,000 people there. The locale, the center of the country, which we enjoy with the Cowboys and being close to Mexico is what we all enjoy. The other thing is that it is very attractive to my vision of our stadium and my vision of how I want my Cowboys positioned. I want to be very ambitious. But I want to be ambitious with the spirit in mind that this is good for Las Vegas because it creates more interest in fighting and fighting can participate in the kind of visibility that the Cowboys have. We are the most visible in programming in all of television. We have more people watching TVs when we play and vicariously these fights can benefit from that. That lifts all boxing and certainly I will attend fights in Las Vegas because I am a fight fan as well as a Las Vegas fan.
Just so you know, the $50 ticket is more than going to the Cowboys game. One of the things I tried to do in building our stadium was to build it big enough and to have what we call a ‘party pass’, which is standing room only. I did that so as many as 30,000 fans that came to the Giants game could come for $29. It was built so that more fans could afford to come to not only Cowboys games but also other sporting events. I think boxing can benefit from that. I have been rewarded by it, that our Mexican fans shake my hand and say thank you for having this fight here because we are going to get a chance to see boxing.
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Manny Pacquiao makes his debut on Good Morning America Weekend This Saturday morning. Check your local listings for times.
The Manny Pacquiao Foundation will be auctioning off original paintings of PacMan, signed personally by Pacquiao, Today! Thursday, March 11 at the Gaylord Texan Hotel in the Longhorn Exhibit Hall E, located on Level 1 of the Convention Center, beginning at 5 p.m. CT.
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Promoted by Top Rank, in association with the Tecate and MP Promotions, THE EVENT: PACQUIAO vs. CLOTTEY will take place This Saturday! March 13, in Cowboys Stadium, The $1.2 billion stadium is the largest, most technologically advanced entertainment venue in the world. Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), boxing’s only seven-division world champion, of General Santos City, Philippines, will be defending the World Boxing Organization welterweight title against Clottey (35-3, 21 KOs), of Accra, Ghana. THE EVENT will be produced and distributed Live on HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
Remaining Tickets to Pacquiao vs. Clottey, priced at $700, $500, $300, $200, $100, and $50, can be purchased in-person at the Cowboys Stadium box office in Arlington, or by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com.
PROMOTER Bob Arum claims Floyd Mayweather Jnr is running scared of Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao and Mayweather are expected to collide next year in what promises to be one of the biggest fights in the history of the sweet science.
But Team Pacquiao fear Money may not be willing to put his undefeated record on the line against the man regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
Arum said: "You have to understand Mayweather's psyche. Psychologically he may not be prepared to do this fight.
"Now this is me being an amateur psychologist but Mayweather is so tied up with the fact that nobody has beaten him — that he has a zero on his record.
"I don't know if he would be willing to go into the ring with anybody that could jeopardise that zero.
"He is afraid, terrified of losing that zero.
"That's why he's ducked Shane Mosely, Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto.
"And the question is will he duck Manny because he's so afraid of losing that zero?"
Mayweather, 32, still believes he is the world's greatest boxer and is confident he will put Pacquiao in his place.
But Pac-Man insists he will not chase a showdown with the arrogant American.
The Filipino said: "We are not pushing the fight — he should be the first to challenge me."
Arum shares Pacquiao's view that the new WBO welterweight champion can do without Mayweather.
But he is determined to give boxing fans the fight they so desperately want to see.
Arum added: "It's not so much that I give a damn whether this fight happens, because I don't, and for me it's not the greatest experience doing a promotion with Mayweather.
"But boxing is on such a roll now, not to do this fight would slow down considerably the momentum the sport has — and that would be wrong."
The posturing over negotiations for possibly the most lucrative fight of all time has begun.
Promoter Bob Arum told the Daily News Thursday that he recently tried to start discussions for the potential mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. and walked into a roadblock. The dialogue was cut short when Arum said that Richard Schaefer, who promotes Mayweather, told him that the boxer is currently a promotional free agent - which Mayweather's camp denies.
Now, Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, said he isn't sure who to deal with in regards to making the fight, which would probably take place in the spring.
"I'm waiting for a clear direction for who I'm supposed to negotiate with," Arum said yesterday during a luncheon to celebrate Brooklyn's Yuri Foreman, the first orthodox Jew to win a world championship in nearly 70 years. Foreman won a decision against Daniel Santos on Saturday to capture the WBA junior middleweight title on the undercard of Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto.
"Floyd can choose anyone he wishes to negotiate for him," Arum went on. "I assume that if Floyd wants to do the fight then that person will emerge. But Floyd doing it himself will be a catastrophe."
When told of Arum's comments, Leonard Ellerbe, an adviser to Mayweather, chuckled and provided a window into the discord that exists between the two camps. Arum is Mayweather's former promoter.
"Mayweather Promotions is discussing Floyd's options right now," Ellerbe said. "When it comes time to express those options, Richard (Schaefer) will be the one to express our position to Top Rank.
"This is typical Arum, to be playing games like this. It's no secret, the whole world knows that both camps don't see eye to eye. But Floyd has made it perfectly clear that he wants the fight."
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Manny Pacquiao's desire to take on Floyd Mayweather may not be enough to persuade the American to climb into the ring for a dream fight against the Filipino, promoter Bob Arum said on Thursday.
As Pacquiao returned to a hero's welcome in Manila on Friday following his impressive WBO welterweight title win over Miguel Cotto at the weekend, Arum cast doubt on a Mayweather showdown, saying the American might not want to blemish his perfect record.
"But you have to understand Mayweather's psyche," Arum told reporters at a lunch saluting Yuri Foreman, who became the first Israeli to win a world title when he claimed the WBA super welterweight crown on the Pacquiao undercard.
"Psychologically he may not be prepared to do this fight," Pacquaio promoter Arum added.
"Now this is me being an amateur psychologist, but Mayweather is so tied up with the fact that nobody has beaten him, that he has a zero on his record, I don't know if he would be willing to go into the ring with anybody that could jeopardize that zero.
The 32-year-old Mayweather, who has won titles at five different weight classes, has a 40-0 career record while Pacquiao, 30, improved to 50-3-2 when he stopped Cotto in the 12th round in Las Vegas.
HIGHER FIGURES
"He is afraid, terrified of losing that zero," said Arum, possibly in an effort to goad Mayweather into making the match.
"That's why he's ducked (Shane) Mosely, (Antonio) Margarito and Cotto, and the question is will he duck Manny Pacquiao because he's so afraid of losing that zero."
Pacquiao, who won his seventh world title in an unprecedented seventh weight class, told a radio interviewer this week he wanted to fight Mayweather in what would be a showdown between the world's two best pound-for-pound boxers.
However, the Filipino threw the ball back in Mayweather's court with comments to local media at Manila airport.
"We are not pushing the fight. He should be the first to challenge me, after all I got a higher pay-per-view from my fight," the Inquirer newspaper quoted him as saying on its website (www.inquirer.net).
Mayweather's last fight against Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez in September, a victory by a unanimous points decision, drew a million pay-per-view buys.
Final figures are yet to be released but Pacquiao's stoppage win over Cotto is widely tipped to have generated more.
After being greeted by a media scrum at the airport, Pacquiao rode a flat-bed truck adorned with flags around the streets of Manila, drawing thousands of cheering fans.
Representatives of HBO Boxing expressed confidence that Pacquiao and Mayweather would fight as welterweights in May, and Arum said he would try his best to arrange it.
"Boxing is on such a roll now, not to do this fight would slow down considerably the momentum that boxing has, and that would be wrong," Arum said.
(Additional reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by John O'Brien)
Could Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto recreate 8 minutes of ring mayhem as Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns did 24 years ago ?
Promoter Bob Arum thinks it is possible.
Hagler v Hearns, at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, in April 1985, is regarded by many as the most exciting eight minutes in fight history, with Hagler the winner by a technical knockout in the third round. It was Fight of the Year after both men went at it from the opening bell like men possessed.
Miguel Cotto against Manny Pacquiao brings together two fighters who are sporting icons in Puerto Rico and the Philippines respectively, and who are regarded as boxing’s No 3 and No 1 pound-for-pound, respectively, at present.
Cotto, 29, a two-weight world champion, has fought at welterweight for three years, and has been beaten only once in 35 contests, while Pacquiao, 30, attempts to win a seventh world title in a seventh weight division, which has seen him come up over eight years from flyweight to welterweight. He has been beaten twice in his 55-fight career, with two draws.
Although this contest is taking place at 145lbs, Cotto’s World Boxing Organisation welterweight (147lb) crown is on the table.
When Hagler and Hearns met in 1985, for the WBC, WBA and IBF middleweight titles, Hagler was 30, and had lost only twice, much earlier in his career, while Hearns was 26 and had been beaten just once, stopped in the 14th round by Sugar Ray Leonard.
Arum, who promotes both Pacquiao and Cotto, visited both training camps – in Baguio City in the Philippines and Tampa, Florida.
“The way Manny and Miguel are talking about it, it could be like the three-round war between Hagler and Hearns,” the veteran promoter Arum told Telegraph Sport. “The conventional wisdom is that Cotto is best when he’s aggressive, but I don’t know if he feels he can be aggressive with this guy from the get-go. But if Cotto is aggressive, though, it could be a Hagler v Hearns all over again.”
Arum, speaking exclusively to Telegraph Sport from the Top Rank offices in Las Vegas, explained: "I see this fight as a modern version of Duran v Hagler, or a Hagler v Hearns fight. It has that feel about it, that kind of excitement.
"Two great fighters, loved in boxing. Magazine stories, unprecedented media requests, two entire countries following their fighters, I really believe that on the night this will turn out to be a classic."
Sport on television Marvin Hagler v Thomas Hearns, at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, in April 1985, is regarded by many as the most exciting eight minutes in fight history, with Hagler the winner by a technical knockout in the third round. It was Fight of the Year after both men went at it from the opening bell like men possessed.
Cotto against Pacquiao brings together two fighters who are sporting icons in Puerto Rico and the Philippines respectively, and who are regarded as boxing's No 3 and No 1 pound-for-pound, respectively, at present.
Cotto, 29, a two-weight world champion, has fought at welterweight for three years, and has been beaten only once in 35 contests, while Pacquiao, 30, attempts to win a seventh world title in a seventh weight division, which has seen him come up over eight years from flyweight to welterweight. He has been beaten twice in his 55-fight career, with two draws.
Although this contest is taking place at 145lbs, Cotto's World Boxing Organisation welterweight (147lb) crown is on the table.
When Hagler and Hearns met in 1985, for the WBC, WBA and IBF middleweight titles, Hagler was 30, and had lost only twice, much earlier in his career, while Hearns was 26 and had been beaten just once, stopped in the 14th round by Sugar Ray Leonard.
Arum, who promotes both Pacquiao and Cotto, visited both training camps – in Baguio City in the Philippines and Tampa, Florida.
"The way Manny and Miguel are talking about it, it could be like the three-round war between Hagler and Hearns," said Arum. "The conventional wisdom is that Cotto is best when he's aggressive, but I don't know if he feels he can be aggressive with this guy from the get-go. But if Cotto is aggressive, though, it could be a Hagler v Hearns all over again.
"People ask what it's like promoting two fighters under you. It's only a win if it turns out to be the great fight you think it'll be.Then, in spite of there being a loser, both men are elevated in the eyes of the public."
So, what of preparation? "Cotto is very, very confident," said Arun. "His work effort is very, very good. He's been very methodical. He hasn't changed anything with his workouts, doing what he has always done.
"Obviously in sparring, he's been trying to be able to counter what he expects Pacquiao to do. Cotto will be Cotto on the night. He's a big, strong welterweight with a great left hand and a great body punch."
Over to Camp Pacquiao. "The other guy is inhuman," laughed Arum. "I've never seen anyone work like he does. Four hours without taking a break and at the end he has some guy with a pole hitting him in the gut for five minutes. It's almost like he's superhuman. It's like Bruce Lee coming to boxing, that's what it's like. He was sparring with Shawn Porter, who is a big guy, a junior middleweight, who is fast, and very good. To my view, from one day to the next he just gets better and better.
"I can see now why Ricky Hatton got blown away. No one has ever seen anything like this in boxing. When he's sparring it's almost like he's doing magic. It's eerie to watch Pacquaio. His is a workout the most dedicated athlete in the world couldn't duplicate."
The $6 million question is who will win?
Understandably, Arum cannot call it. "I don't know who's going to win this fight. Cotto is the strongest, best fighter Pacquiao has ever been up against, and I don't know how he'll deal with that. Cotto will know he can't compete with this guy in speed or technique. With Pacquiao, you've got to time him and tag him, try to hurt him and slow the guy up."
Arum paused. "Look, something about Pacquiao isn't human. He's already planning his normal concert – where he'll play and sing for an hour and a half to fans – in the middle of preparing for all this."
If it lives us to its billing, Cotto v Pacquiao could become a classic.
Oscar De La Hoya suggested in his latest blog that promoter Bob Arum arranged to have a relatively big ring for the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas because it would favor Pacquiao, his top fighter.
The fact is, Arum pointed out, that ring size is standard in Nevada: 20 feet by 20 feet. Thus, he couldn’t show favoritism even if he wanted to.
Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, confirmed that the ring will be 20 by 20, according to Yahoo! Sports.
“The idea that I’m bringing in a big ring to favor Pacquiao, who he said I want to win, is absolutely outrageous,” Arum said. “… Everybody who has fought in Nevada the last 10 years has fought in the same-sized ring, including Oscar.”
Arum said the standard ring size evolved from the Riddick Bowe-Larry Donald fight in 1994, in which the size of the ring became a point of contention. Not long after that, to avoid that situation, Nevada officials decided to go with a standard ring.
The portion of De La Hoya's blog in question was removed in light of the standard ring size.
