Put one on the board for the old man?
Bob Arum fended off a charge from bitter rival, the promotional neophyte Oscar De La Hoya, when he got Manny Pacquiao to sign on the dotted line in the Philippines.
Arum arrived in Manila the day after Christmas, the Manila Bulletin online says.
By the time news broke that the Top Rank president was in the country, Arum had already met with Manny Pacquiao, and in one day had forged an agreement with boxing?s most exciting personality.
?Nobody knew I would be coming over (to the Philippines),? said Arum, who kept his trip secret even from much of his own staff.
?I did not know that Bob was going to the Philippines,? said publicist Ricardo Jimenez. Arum, the newspaper report said, actually wanted to fly to Manila on Christmas, but the 75-year-old lawyer could not get a booking.
Supposedly, many folks on Team Pacquiao wanted Manny to jump ship, and sign on with Oscar, but the wily vet Arum went the extra mile(s), and secured the services of the sport?s most buzzed about boxer?
There is something to be said about experience, and Arum has to feel sky-high at defeating his former client, and now his most bitter rival, De La Hoya?
