Bob Arum’s nearly 43 years in boxing began with the Muhammad Ali victory over George Chuvalo, and it was his first of 26 fights involving the man many call “The Greatest.”
A 78-year-old Harvard graduate and attorney, Arum also handled every fight of Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s career, as well as substantial portions of those of Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Arum also helped to mastermind the comeback of George Foreman, who became the oldest man to win a heavyweight championship when he knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th-round at the age of 45 in November of 1994.
But when it comes to experiences with fighters, there is nothing that ranks higher in Arum’s stable than the promotional ride that he has taken with 31-year-old, Manny Pacquiao, a seven-division champion whose cross-over appeal has transformed him into an international super star.
“Muhammad Ali was a beloved figure in his prime, but also a reviled figure. There were people on both sides of the political spectrum, particularly regarding the war in Vietnam. The ones that opposed it loved Ali, and the ones who were in favor of it didn’t,” Arum told FanHouse during an interview in December.
“But until he was long-retired, Ali was never the universally admired figure in this country and around the world like Manny Pacquiao, who is someone different,” said Arum. “Anybody who is aware of Manny Pacqiao loves him, admires him, and there are no haters. There is no right or left when it comes to Manny Pacquiao. That’s made him a more, universally revered figure than Muhammad Ali.”
Pacquiao is 51-3-2, with 38 knockouts, including victories in his past 12 consecutive match ups and eight knockouts during that time.
But the fight that would top off Arum’s career, which is in its twilight, would be a megabout between unbeaten Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs), and, Pacquiao.
It is a bout that stands to rake in upwards of $40 million for each combatant, making it the richest and most lucrative in the history of boxing.
A previous attempt at making Mayweather-Pacquiao for March 13 failed during a negotiations’ impasse over random drug testing.
But during a national conference call on Wednesday, Arum said that he is motivated to be a part of one of the most significant fights of his time.
“Yeah, to be involved in a big fight like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather,” said Arum, “that would be one of the great experiences of my career.”
Arum said that he has reserved the date of Nov. 13 for the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and The Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
On March 13, Pacquiao scored a unanimous decision victory over Joshua Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs) in the first-ever boxing match to be held at The Dallas Cowboys’ Stadium, earning $12 million before a crowd of 51,000.
Arum has regenerated the notion of bouts in outdoor stadiums, following up with a June 5, WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) championship fight featuring titlist, Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs), of Brooklyn, and, Puerto Rico’s three-time, former world champion, Miguel Cotto, at the new Yankees’ Stadium.
Billed as “The Stadium Slugfest,” Foreman-Cotto marks the return of boxing to a Yankees’ home stadium for the first time since Sept. 28, 1976, when Arum promoted Muhammed Ali’s 15-round decision victory over Ken Norton at the original Yankees’ Stadium.
“The stadiums are important because they enable the most possible people to watch the event. It’s not unique to boxing. Look at the NCAA. The Regional finals and the Final Four, all now take place in massive venues,” said Arum, whose milestone will be the first boxing event at the new Yankees Stadium.
“The reason is that they can accommodate more people, and the prices don’t have to be as high as in a smaller venue. I’m not the geniuns that figured this out,” said Arum. “But I’m just going along with common sense, and that is that if you want your product shown to the biggest possible audience, you have to put it int the biggest possible arena.”
In the event that Mayweather-Pacquiao can’t be made, comebacking Mexican, Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 knockouts), might be a possible opponent for the Filipino fighter.
Margarito is coming off of Saturday’s 10-round decision over Roberto Garcia (28-3, 21 KOs), ending the loser’s five-year, 14-bout unbeaten streak that had included 10 knockouts.
Margarito returned to the ring for the first time since being suspended by the California State Athletic Commission after a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley dethroned him as WBA champion.
The suspension was the result of Mosley’s trainer, Naazim Richardson, discovering that Margarito’s fist wrappings had included a plaster-like substance that was then removed and confiscated before their fight.
Margarito was not able to return to the ring for the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard, but Arum said that he is confident that his next fight will be in the United States.
“California does not have to license Margarito,” said Arum. “But obviously, if we went to do a Margarito fight, he would apply for a license in the state that he was going to fight in next, whether that was Nevada or Texas. And I would expect a good result.”
But the most favorable result would be a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.
“That’s the fight that people want to see. And that’s the fight that I’m going to do my darndest to make happen,” said Arum.
“That would be great, but there are other things other than fights. My great, great dream is to still be around and to attend the inaguration of Manny Pacquiao as president of the Philippines,” said Arum, referring to something he believes will happen by the time that Pacquiao is 40.
“That would be, to me, the greatest achievement in my career,” said Arum. “But I’ve never seen anything like this. An active boxer who wins a seat in his country’s legislature. I’ve never seen anything like it. This is really, for me, the pinacle.”
