Last night Top Rank promoter Bob Arum made an appearance on the popular The Boxing Truth Radio program. Arum is getting ready for another hectic fight week in Las Vegas as he will be hosting this weekend’s WBA junior middleweight championship bout between champion Miguel Cotto and Nicaragua’s Ricardo Mayorga, set to take place at the MGM Grand, and was sure to drum up interested in the event.
During his time on the show Arum also discussed what it is like going into another co-promotion with the bombastic Don King, working with the brasses at Showtime to help promote the May 7th Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley bout, why Brandon ‘Bam Bam’ Rios could be facing off with Marco Antonio Barrera this fall, his true feelings towards Oscar De La Hoya and much more.
A few highlights from the show can be found below…
Arum goes in on Oscar De La Hoya
In recent times Arum has been making headlines because of his heated relationship with Golden Boy Promotions, particularly the company’s president Oscar De La Hoya and their CEO Richard Schaefer. The feud seems to stem from the fallout over the battle to the rights of superstar Manny Pacquiao, Arum’s number one fighter at the moment, and the war of words has been ugly from both sides.
Asked for his true feelings towards De La Hoya, Arum insists that seeing his former fighter take jabs at Pacquiao was something that got under his skin.
“[I have] very little respect for him as a person,” said Arum. “I am extremely angry at both Oscar and Richard Schaefer for the defamatory statements they made regarding Manny Pacquiao. When you promote a fighter as I promote Manny Pacquiao, a bond grows. When you attempt to hurt my friend I have no use for you and will do anything I can to get back at you.”
Weighing in on Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez
On Saturday night Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez won his first world title with a relatively easy decision over England’s Matthew Hatton. Asked for his impression of the 20-year old budding star, Arum said that Hatton was purely a C-level fighter and that we wouldn’t truly know anything about Alvarez until he steps up in competition.
Arum also addressed a possible fight between Alvarez and Sinaloa’s Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. down the road.
“We don’t know what the future will bring,” said Arum. “Seems to me Chavez is a much bigger guy than Alvarez. Alvarez is somewhat younger, so he can grow into Chavez’s size. But right now Chavez has trouble making 160. Alvarez fights even below the junior middleweight limit. But he’s only 20. Down the road, depending on his growth, it might be a very competitive fight.”
