In the latest news from the ‘Mayweather-Pacquiao’ front, a group of individuals from Qatar are reportedly interested in making a huge financial offer to ‘purchase’ the fight. This party, would like to stage the fight in America and presumably get a portion of the gate if not all of it, according to Bob Arum.
In a recent interview with Boxingscene.com, Arum shared his excitement about the group of individuals and their large offer. Unfortunately, Arum went a little too far: “They don’t want the fight in Qatar. They want the fight presumably in Vegas or some state. But yes I did get the call, a letter from Abu Dhabi offering me gazillions [and] my own camel. And I got this call Saturday from Qatar” These comments have been called into question by many fans due to Arum’s history of controversial and discriminating comments. In fact, there have been several complaints against him for making racial and/or discriminating comments. Just last year, Arum made homosexual and racial comments toward MMA fighters.
Here’s another example of Bob’s alleged ‘loose lips’, from Wikipedia: “Arum has been accused of being a racist by Robert Lee, the former president of the International Boxing Federation. Lee said of Arum “I pin the racism charge on him because he once told me: `We will let the Blacks and the Latinos fight in the ring and we will count the money on the outside’.” So, for a man with a history of questionable remarks, these latest comments about money and a camel are probably not the smartest things to say even if they were meant as innocent humor.
If this were Floyd Mayweather Jr making these comments he would surely be blasted by the media and rightfully so. Arum might be a member of boxing’s ‘old guard’ but he really needs to get caught up with the times. There’s no room in Boxing for racial or discriminating comments.
