Per usual, Arum gives Boxingtalkers another must read interview
It’s a very busy time for Top Rank, you guys have a ton of shows coming up. And it’s to stay busy for many, many years because now we don’t have to sit around and waiting for dates and so forth. They [ESPN] give us the dates and we just put on great fights. Let’s start with February 3rd in Corpus Christi, Texas, where Zurdo Ramirez will face Habib Ahmed. Jesse Hart, Teofimo Lopez and Benavidez will also see action. What can you tell us about February 3rd? “Jerwin Ancajas, my Philippine sensation is also on the show and he’s fighting Israel Gonzalez (21-1) for the 115 pound title and that should be a very good fight. The thing that’s really interesting is other than Ramirez and Ancajas fighting on ESPN, prior to that on ESPN News they’re going to bring you the Jesse Hart fight and the Teofimo Lopez fight. So that’s what our goal is, load up the card and have every fight televised. Not on ESPN the major channel because you can’t preempt that much time, but they’ve got five different channels.
GL: Is this the first show you guys are doing with ESPN that this is happening on?
Bob Arum: “Yes.”
GL: Right after that you guys head to Reno on February 16th with Rey Beltran in the main event. Shakur’s on that card, Conceicao…
Bob Arum: (cutting in) “Beltran is fighting for the vacant WBO title, and the second fight on that card is Egidigjus Kavaliauskas fighting a solid fighter whose name I can’t pronounce, but Kavaliauskas is going to be a force in the welterweight division, he punches like a motherf**ker.”
GL: And you learned how to say his name so you must like him.
BA: “Absolutely, in addition to being a great fighter he’s also a nice kid. After February 16th we’re heading to Stub Hub on March 10th and you want to talk about a loaded f**king show. We really loaded that up. The main event with Valdez and Quigg, then we have two undefeated fighters with Vences and DeLeon, a Mexican against a Puerto Rican. Saucedo is on that card, Mike Reed and Barboza is on that card, and that should be a helluva fight. Andy Ruiz is expected to fight on that card, I mean it’s a really good f**king card.”
GL: They don’t call it Top Rank for nothing.
BA: “That’s right! Then on March 17th we’re back in the Big Apple. Conlan, because it’s St. Patrick’s Day heads the card. We have a world title fight between Amir Imam and Jose Luis Ramirez for the WBC junior welterweight title and then the WBC interim title fight between Gvozdyk and this French guy [Mehdi Amar]”
GL: So the WBC interim title fight is happening on March 17th?
BA: “Yep. And the 140 pound title fight.
GL: Yep, you and Don together again.
BA: “That’s a good card.”
GL: When did Gvozdyk get added to that show? I was curious to know what happened with all that mess with the WBC at light heavyweight?
BA: “Once we cleared everything with the WBC. Mauricio [Sulaiman] realized that the Eleider Alavarez camp was full of shit. Whether he got paid or not, he stepped aside a bunch of times.”
GL: I was surprised Alvarez withdrew from the purse bid so quickly, I thought they would go to the purse bid and then stall afterwards.
BA: “I don’t know what they’re doing, the whole thing was crazy. I honestly don’t think Adonis Stevenson vs. Badou Jack is going to happen now, you’ll see.”
GL: Felix Verdejo also returns on that March 17th card.
BA: “That is correct, I mean the card is absolutely loaded. We’re really doing a number on boxing, loading up these cards.”
GL: A few years ago did you ever see yourself in a position where Top Rank would be able to line up all of these major cards without Showtime or HBO’s involvement?
BA: “Of course not. We all were so drunk on the kool-aid we couldn’t see anything past the premier networks.”
GL: What kind of shot do you give Joseph Parker against Anthony Joshua?
BA: “I think he’s got a solid shot. I’m not really an expert on heavyweights, but I really think Parker is going to surprise everybody. I really think he’s going to beat Joshua. I know Parker has got a chin of iron and Joshua is not going to be able to get him out of there. I really think he’s got a good shot to hurt Joshua and keep him down.”
GL: What’s the status of Terence Crawford vs. Jeff Horn for April?
BA: “It’s not going to be April 21st, but it’s going to be April before then. I can’t say more than it’ll cost you subway fare to be there.”
GL: Back the to Garden.
BA: “I’m a Garden man.”
GL: Who else will be on that show?
BA: “It’s going to be loaded. I can’t say too much right now.”
GL: What’s next for Pacquiao? I’ve seen the talks of Pacquiao-Lomachenko, but that doesn’t seem realistic at this point.
BA: “It’s not realistic because Lomachenko’s father turned the fight down because he didn’t want Lomachenko to go up two weight classes for the fight. The fight will eventually happen I think, but he will not fight Lomachenko next.”
GL: When will Pacquiao fight again?
BA: “You’ll see. Sooner rather than later.”
GL: When will Lomachenko fight again?
BA: “Sometime in April, but not on that card.”
GL: I kind of figured he wouldn’t be on the same show as Crawford. Those are two fighters that demand two separate dates.
BA: “Exactly right, Lomachenko will most likely fight on the 28th of April.”
GL: What’s up with Jesse Magdaleno?
BA: “He was having weight problems. Now Frank Espinosa says he’s ready to go and hopefully he’s going to figure in to one of our April cards. These are going to be some great months, because we’re going to be finished with football. During the football season we were only going about once a month, but now we’re going to be going two or three times a month during the football season. We’re also going to be showing a number of fights outside of the country at some crazy times in the United States, but hey, it’s a service for the boxing fans so they can see good matches because there’s always a DVR, so they can always tape it and watch it at their leisure.”
