Arum a wealth of information in BT exclusive
GL: Congrats on a great show at the Garden the other night. Can you give us some thoughts on the event and Miguel Cotto’s performance against Zab Judah? “Well, we said going in that could be a tremendously exciting entertaining night and that all of the fighters were going to fight, and that’s exactly what they did. There was a tremendous amount of energy in the building. We brought in the top disc jockey from Tryst night club in Las Vegas. The crowd was wonderful and we had a great time and the two fighters in the main event, Zab Judah and Miguel Cotto made me proud because they came to fight. Like all athletic contest somebody wins and somebody loses, but in my mind both guys came out winners.”
GL: Did Cotto handle Judah easier than you expected?
Bob Arum: “It didn’t surprise me at all because Cotto is a fantastic fighter who has tremendous energy, comes in great condition and he’s very strong. The only concern that there was for Cotto was, can he weather the punches he was going to take from Zab Judah. With Cotto’s style he can’t avoid taking punches. Judah caught him with some terrific shots and like Cotto said they made him dance a little, but he has this new training regime and he’s got great resiliency and he’s great recovery.”
GL: Cotto looked much better against Judah than he did against Urkal. Can we expect to see Miguel with nothing but marquee opponents from here on out since he seems to get up for the bigger fights?
BA: “Absolutely. He’s going to have big marquee fights. With the Urkal fight, I was on the scene in Puerto Rico and he was horribly ill the night before and day of the fight. He wasn’t the real Miguel Cotto. We knew that, but luckily Urkal didn’t have much to hurt him with.” GL: Soto and Chavez Jr were both victorious on the undercard. Of course we know about the talks of Soto facing Manny Pacquiao. What’s going to be next for these guys?
BA: “Soto showed that he was one terrific fighter. Manny wants to fight him and we’ll see how that plays itself out. That could happen in October in Vancouver, British Columbia. We’ll see what happens the rest of the week, but we’ll have the opponent and venue before the end of the week. As far as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., he’s going to fight here in Chicago on the Erik Morales-David Diaz card and if he’s successful and Arturo Gatti is successful in his July fight, we hope to have them matched with each other for November.”
GL: Will Cotto’s next move be on hold until we see what happens with Margarito-Williams?
BA: “We’re going to wait until after the Margarito-Williams fight before making concrete plans for Miguel Cotto. If Margarito wins we’re going to go ahead with the Cotto fight in November or December. If Paul Williams wins we might consider him for Cotto depending on what kind of fight Williams turns out to be.”
GL: Zab Judah feels the low blows prevented him from peforming at his best and he wants a rematch with Cotto. Is there any chance of that rematch ever taking place? BA: “As far as the low blows are concerned, the first so called low blow was not a low blow. The second one clearly was. Irrespective of the low blows, Zab Judah will certainly be considered for a rematch, but as I told his father after the fight, he’s got to go win at least one good fight before we feel comfortable doing the rematch.”
GL: You’re currently in Chicago for the Erik Morales-David Diaz presser. Can you give us some thoughts on that event and tell us if this is the last time we will ever get to see Erik in the ring?
BA: “I came right from New York because I was up in the Hall of Fame in Canastota yesterday. Erik will be here shortly and he’s a great fighter and he’s had a great career. He’s won three world titles in three different weight divisions and he wanted the opportunity to be the first Mexican to win titles in four weight divisions. As he’s told me, if he loses and even if he wins but isn’t satisfied with his performance, this will be the last we see of Erik Morales. If he wins and he’s invigorated and the five pound difference makes the difference, then of course he’ll continue to fight. It’ll be up to him and the decision is his, but if he loses I’m almost certain that it will be his last fight.”
GL: Hasim Rahman returns against Taurus Sykes in Rochester on Thursday night. This is Hasim’s first fight since losing the wBC title to Oleg Maskaev last August. If Rahman gets by Sykes what will be next for him?
BA: “The Klitschko people have talked to us about Rahman and another option has presented itself. I met with Peter Kohl who was in New York for the Cotto fight and we’re now in serious discussions to put on Rahman with Ruslan Chagaev. If Rahman gets by the fight on Thursday he’s going to have two interesting options.”
GL: Floyd Mayweather has made it clear that he’s staying retired if he doesn’t get a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya. Do you think we’ll ever see Cotto fight Floyd? BA: “If I were Floyd I would sit and wait for the De La Hoya rematch. There’s nothing more comforting than two businessmen fighting. If Oscar is unavailable, maybe Floyd will find another businessman to latch on to. There are fighters and businessmen. Floyd did well fighting businessmen and he’s probably going to fight them for the rest of his career.”
GL: Everybody knows that Top Rank hasn’t done business with Golden Boy since Barrera-Morales III. Mosley-Cotto is in high demand as is the Pacquiao-Marquez rematch. Is there any chance this rivalry will ever come to an end so we can be treated to the aforementioned fights?
BA: “As far as Top Rank is concerned we won’t ever let anything stand in the way of making the fight that’s best for our fighters. If you’re a boxing promoter you have to cater to the fans and you can’t let these petty battles screw up the fights that the fighters and fans want. I’ve always stood for that and so has Don. If any of these fights aren’t happening, they’re not happening because of us, they’re not happening because of Golden Boy. We’re happy to discuss and talk about any fight.”
GL: Do you feel Cotto knocks Mosley out?
BA: “Shane Mosley is an excellent fighter, but you have to understand we have a comment to Margarito as well as Margarito has a committment to us. If Margarito wins his fights with Williams he fights Cotto next. If he wins and gets injured and we have to look for another fight with Cotto then certainly the Shane Mosley fight would be on the drawing board. Fans would love that fight and I think that fight would do extremely well at the box office. I would entertain that fight and I know that Miguel and his family would love the fight as well. I’m not going to go on bended knee to Golden Boy so Mosley can fight Cotto because Cotto will certainly live without Mosley, but it’s a fight I’d love to make and I’d be glad to sit down with them.
GL: What’s going to be next for Kelly Pavlik?
BA: “As far as Lou and I are concerned we’re finished. We have a deal in principle. Lou says that he has his people in line. He’s got some odds and ends to straigten out with HBO, but as far as I can see HBO has stepped up to the plate for that fight so I don’t see any impediment preventing that fight from happening. Both organizations, the WBC and the WBO have said in no unmistaken terms that he must fight Pavlik next or give up his title. There’s no controversy here and I believe everybody is on board so you’ll see that fight take place sometime before the end of September.”
