Bob Arum is rarely at a loss for words.
But the veteran promoter was briefly speechless after he found out that middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin would be facing welterweight titleholder Kell Brook on Sept. 10 in London. Arum apparently hadn?t heard the news until a reporter called him for a reaction.
?Golovkin is fighting who?? Arum finally said after a few moments of silence shortly after the announcement. ?I don?t believe that. That?s crazy. I mean, Golovkin is fighting a welterweight? Alright, that?s something. You hear something crazy every day. I?m not surprised I?m a little shocked. Is that even a fight??
A few seconds later, Arum finally found the words to sum up a match that few saw coming. ?That is absolutely f-ckin crazy,? he told RingTV.com in his gravelly cadence. ?That is absolutely f-ckin crazy.?
Arum had been in deep talks to match his WBO welterweight titleholder Jessie Vargas with Brook later this year in a big welterweight unification match. Vargas had signed off on all the terms and was waiting for Brook?s side to finalize the agreement. But Arum said he hadn?t heard from Brook promoter Eddie Hearn in some time, and Hearn never alerted him he was going in a different direction, according to Arum. ?We were (talking with them) but they?ve gone silent in the last week,? Arum said in a phone interview. ?So that may very well be why.?
The decision by British voters on June 23 to exit the European Union ? ?Brexit? ? complicated the deal in that Brook?s purse had to be modified, Arum said. ?The only issue was we had a deal with Eddie and then we had the ?Brexit? thing and then the question was ? we had to adjust the purse and everything,? Arum commented. ?But we were in the middle of doing that and then we didn?t hear from them.?
Arum wasn?t upset by the development or that Hearn never apparently gave him a heads up. He was still in shock by Friday?s news. Hearn didn?t immediately respond to an email for comment. ?It?s alright, no problem,? Arum said. ?But I don?t believe it. Come on. That makes absolutely no f-ckin sense. It just makes no sense. (GGG vs. Chris Eubank Jr.) makes sense. At least Eubank is a middleweight. It?s not a bad fight. But Gennady Golovkin against a welterweight? Give me a break.?
As for Vargas, Arum sounded like the wheels were already churning for his next fight. ?Stand by,? he said, ?there will be a big announcement next week.?
