On Sunday morning, Manny Pacquiao woke up content that he had secured his final win in boxing with an impressive unanimous decision over three-time rival Timothy Bradley.
It was a great win and equally great way to go out, that is, until he returns to fight once again.
Promoter Bob Arum and his company Top Rank Promotions have paid the Philippines? favorite son handsomely over the years. When it comes to spending money on his fellow countrymen, Manny has long arms and short pockets and is worshiped for them in his homeland (Pacquiao will probably be president there one day) and, if all reports are true, Manny spends money before his pockets even get warm, let alone allow cash to burn any holes in them. However, his spending habits are noble, as they are usually in support of the poor. But philanthropic efforts don?t come cheap; nothing pays like being one of the world?s best prizefighters. And this is why we will more than likely see ?Pac-Man? return. As they say, when it comes to money, ?She comes harder than she goes.?
If Manny does return to boxing, Arum will be on board to sell the popular eight-division world champion to the masses one more time. In the meantime, he will hit the ground running, working the room for the latest hopefuls on his ever-developing roster of champions and contenders.
While fight fans wait and wonder what happens next for two of the game?s best fighters in Bradley and Pacquiao, the man who makes it all happen, Bob Arum, will quickly move on to his next gig as he has done for the last 50-plus years.
It was humbling to watch Arum last week working the press conferences, the media gatherings, the mobs of fans, the weigh-ins and the event itself at 84-years-young with an energy level and work ethic that would draw raves from someone half his age.
But that is what Bob does; he works hard and non-stop. He peddles the latest installment of the best fighters in the game, featuring them in the biggest events the sport has to offer with an enthusiasm and energy like no other. He is working in his sixth decade in the carnival that is boxing as the premier barker and he is simply in a league of his own.
In a career promoting some of the game?s greatest fighters, it is refreshing, energizing and outright fun to watch a man simply enjoy what he does. As the head of one of boxing?s, and perhaps one of the sport?s greatest, promotional firms, Arum undoubtedly has a bankroll that would have allowed him to retire and put his feet up a long time ago but he still has a passion for the game and fighters he promotes.
While Arum has enjoyed his association with Pacquiao (and, more than likely, hopes he fights again), he isn?t hung up on the idea of him not continuing. Much of the pre-fight chatter last week was around Pacquiao stating that this was, perhaps, his last fight. Arum gave the suggestion little credence and was more excited to talk about the bevy of young Mexican stars-in-waiting than he was Manny?s near-future plans.
Legendary British big band leader Humphrey Lyttelton, who, when asked which edition of his band was his favorite ? his career had stared in the 1940s ? replied without missing as beat, ?Why, the present one, of course.?
The New York-born, Vegas resident Arum would certainly like Lyttelton?s line of thinking.
Plain and simple, the most important client on Arum?s roster will always be the next fighter heading into a ring. Bob believes in every fighter his company signs and still loves mapping out the career path of a young upstart as much as he does taking the lead role as ringmaster for a mega-fight.
Arum believes in the old-school method of promoting fighters into respective regional attractions, then seeing if they can be built into national, or international, stars and he does it better than anyone.
While some fighters seem to have an ?it? factor right out of the gate (Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya come to mind), it usually built on the back of Olympic success that has already afforded them widespread exposure. But most fighters, relatively unknown when they start to punch for pay, need someone who understands the game, the fans and their market potential. And Arum, with his decades-long tenure in boxing, understands them like no other.
While Vegas remains the ?Fight Capital of the World? to most fans, Arum endlessly mines new territory in markets like Omaha, Nebraska with WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford or Avenal, California with Olympian standout Jose Carlos Ramirez. He has developed both fighters into one-man sports franchises in the area and will look to expand their brands to a national level as they develop. Never content to be limited to North America, Arum has virtually created a boxing industry in Macau, China over the last few years around hugely popular former amateur star Zou Shiming, now a developing pro.
But looking for success in markets outside his own country shouldn?t be a surprise to anyone who knows Arum?s history as he made his debut as a promoter 50 years ago in Canada. When he had trouble landing a site for the Muhammad Ali-George Chuvalo fight in the United States, he simply headed north across the border to a new country, and greener pastures, staging the fight in Chuvalo?s hometown of Toronto. And that was the first of many fights around the globe, in any and all countries, for the seemingly ageless promoter.
And Bob can add sizzle to any steak. Arum had a job on his hands selling Bradley for a third time against Pacquiao as fans had hoped to see the Filipino icon in against Crawford or perhaps in a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. However, by fight time, Bob had done an amazing job of making this third go-round must-see-TV for fight fans. He loaded up the undercard with his new Mexican hopefuls in newly-crowned WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez, Jose Carlos Ramirez and Oscar Valdez to entice the boxing-crazed Mexican fight market. While Pacquiao and Bradley have a lot more fights behind them than ahead of them, the undercard was loaded with potential stars who should be around for a long time to come. Always seeing the big-picture and playing the long game, Arum spent fight week trumpeting the supporting cast as much as the top-billed participants.
Top Rank has a very strong team in award-winning publicist Lee Samuels, Operations Vice President Carl Moretti, industry standard matchmaker Brad Goodman, event producer Brad Jacobs and Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler, to name a few. But make no mistake about who is the genesis and genius of the operation.
Last Saturday night, the fight was over and done, a great fight headlining a great event.
On Sunday morning, Arum rose and got right back to work. There were fights to be made and boxers to be promoted. Despite decades in the trenches, making thousands of fights and developing thousands of fighters, the flame still burns. Passion, like Bob, seldom takes a vacation.
There is a reason Arum is in the Hall of Fame and is considered by many as the best promoter in the history of the sport.
Last week with Pacquiao-Bradley III then-fast approaching, Arum stated, ?I do it one fight at a time. I?ve agreed to head up the careers of these terrific young kids, Oscar Valdez and Gilberto Ramirez and Jose Ramirez?and they rely on me for planning their future. They are going to be the future superstars and that?s what keeps me going. I look back on what I accomplished with Oscar (De La Hoya), what a star he became, and Floyd Mayweather (Jr.), and these young kids, and you have Terence Crawford, that?s what keeps me going.?
