Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum knows a thing or two about boxing sleight of hand and bait & switch and he is flat-out declaring Premier Boxing Champions? recent moves to be nothing but a big ball of BS.
Speaking to mic-chucking glad-hander Elie Seckbach, the 86-year-old king hustler had this to say about two of Haymon Boxing?s biggest rumored bouts:
?As logical as the Mayweather fight with this kickboxing guy, that?s the same with Garcia and Spence. It?s all bullshit. Same thing with Pacquiao and Broner, it?s all bullshit?.Haymon has nothing else to do?but, remember, nobody is quoting Haymon. He stays behind, Pacquiao says ?Hey, the fight,? meanwhile, nothing is signed?fighters get their names mentioned in the paper, but nothing is happening?Pacquiao?s people told Eddie Hearn that Pacquiao was getting $25 million for the Broner fight. It?s fantasy. It?s bullshit?they ain?t gonna fight!…Don?t be stupid, they are all bullshit fights.?
Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao, who was aligned with Arum?s Top Rank Promotions for much of his career, recently split with Arum and worked as a free agent for precisely one fight before signing a reported two-fight deal with Haymon?s PBC organization.
And, right off the bat, rumors abounded that Pacquiao?s two fights with his new PBC team would consist of one bout with Adrien Broner in early 2019 before a big-money rematch against archrival Floyd Mayweather later in the year.
Nothing official has been announced, of course, but it seemed like a logical plan for the incoming legend. Broner, seen as Mayweather Light in many eyes, can generate a ton of bad guy publicity for a bout against someone like Manny who loves to wear the white hat as part of his self-promotion routine. Thrashing Broner would then be the perfect prelude to selling his second shot at Mayweather.
Garcia-Spence, however, seemed less like a planned event than a manufactured superfight born of necessity.
Mikey Garcia, whose only major fight at the 135 lb. limit seemed hopelessly out of reach against Arum-signed, ESPN-bound Vasyl Lomachenko, was also lacking any big names at his 140 lb. second home. Errol Spence, meanwhile, has been unable to wrangle a big fight in his own welterweight division despite having many names potentially at his disposal, tied to his same people and broadcast network.
Garcia-Spence already has a rumored date and venue (March 16 at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas), but there has yet to be an official confirmation of the bout. And one can?t help but think that if something better comes along for either fighter, they may ditch this out-of-the-blue proposed matchup.
It?s not at all difficult to imagine both of these fights being more rumor than reality and if they ARE, Arum would be the perfect person to spot the con, expose the hustle, and see things for what they are. The aged promoter, after all, is the best in the business at floating rumors into the public discourse that serve his own best interest.
In the case of Pacquiao-Broner and Garcia-Spence, the game could be similar to one Arum has played before, too many times to mention.
Maybe Broner as an opponent gets Pacquiao some early buzz for his first PBC bout, but then can be easily written off as being difficult to negotiate with. They would have no choice, then, but to move on to someone else. Someone who just ?happens to be? much more stylistically suited to being a fall guy for the future first ballot Hall of Famer.
In the case of Garcia-Spence, tying one to the other makes both look good. Mikey looks like a stud searching for a challenge, willing to go to war with a tank. Errol looks so eager to fight a big fight that he?s willing to look anywhere for a quality opponent.
But, then again, maybe it?s all legit. Hopefully, it IS all legit.
The thing with boxing is that we just never know until we know.
