The late Irving Rudd is certainly looking down at his old boss Bob Arum these days with a big smile. Rudd, was Arum’s press agent from the 1970s through late 1980s.
Anyway, what “Swerving Irving” would be pleased about is the way Arum has skillfully turned a silly self-imposed gag order into the most publicized private negotiation nobody is able to talk about in sports history.
Nobody is talking on the record. Few dare to talk off the record for fear of having to buy a ticket to the big fight rather than work on it possibly as early as November 13th.
More people are talking about this fight now than ever before! Arum played the media perfectly last summer when the media and fans wanted to know what weight Manny Pacquiao would agree to months away against Miguel Cotto for their November fight while he was on a long vacation.
Of course I speak of the talks for the long-awaited fight between undefeated Floyd Mayweather and seven-time champion Pacquiao.
Talks were serious back in December and January but March 13th seemed to be rushing the mega-fight that threatens to break all the live box office and worldwide pay per view records all in one night.
Also a difference in opinion on blood testing cropped up and is still a sticking point but a resolution seems near.
After Saturday’s Yankee Stadium slug fest between Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto (HBO 10:15 PM ET) Arum has no place to hide except talk about the big fight in which he promotes only Pacquaio and rival Golden Boy promotes Mayweather.
But Arum has buffers. If Cotto wins Saturday night, he becomes a player in the Pacquiao sweepstakes if Mayweather is off the table. Arum knows he could probably afford one more tuneup fight and an exhaustive six-month delay if he has to put Pacquiao in another fight before Mayweather talks would begin again.
Arum wants to make Pacquiao vs. Mayweather now and in the worse way and it seems so close but he refuses to make concessions to Golden Boy that would give Mayweather either a competitive or financial advantage.
Bonus: If you think Freddie Roach has done a great job with Pacquiao, I just imagine what Irving Rudd would have done with him! Irving worked for the old Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s before they headed of to Los Angeles. I think of that now as the fight in Yankee Stadium is a little more than 36 hours away. Irving worked publicity magic at training camps for both Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton. Of course 34 years ago those two headlined the last boxing event next door at the original Yankee Stadium. That was a fight that included a young boxing judge by the name of Harold Lederman. What ever happened to that guy?
