LAS VEGAS ? Bob Arum said he is appealing a bankruptcy ruling that allowed prospect Victor Ortiz to jump to Golden Boy Promotions and the Top Rank promoter threatened to sue his co-managers, Shelly Finkel and Rolando Arellano, whom he called creeps. Arum angrily blamed Finkel and Arellano for interfering with the contract that Top Rank had with Ortiz (22-1-1, 17 KOs), who faces Jeffrey Resto (22-2, 13 KOs) Saturday night for the NABO junior-welterweight title on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight at the MGM Grand. ?We?re going to win and when we do we?re coming after you,?? said Arum, who refused to shake Arellano?s outstretched hand as he stepped off a stage after a news conference Thursday for the undercard. ?You?re going to pay through the nose.?? Arum continued his rant to a circle of reporters after the news conference, which included Ortiz, Resto, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and other fighters scheduled for the undercard. ?I wasn?t going to shake his hand,?? Arum said of the gesture from Arellano, Fernando Vargas? former manager. ?He?s a creep. And Shelly Finkel is the biggest creep to ever be involved in boxing.?? Schaefer called the timing of Arum?s comments ?inappropriate.?? However, Arum, who said he has filed the appeal in Los Angeles, did not threaten Golden Boy Promotions with a lawsuit. Arum said Finkel and Arellano talked Ortiz into filing for bankruptcy. ?I really applaud his passion behind the issues,?? Arellano said of Arum. ?But there is a new way of doing business in boxing. Shelley and I are doing this to protect our boxer with integrity and transparency.?? Arellano said a bankruptcy judge in Santa Barbara, Calif., approved the bankruptcy filing because Ortiz ?had more debts than money coming in.?? Ortiz, who fought for Golden Boy for the first time in September on the undercard of Shane Mosley?s victory over Ricardo Mayorga in Carson, Calif., was reluctant to talk about the controversy just a couple of days before his fight with Resto. ?I?m just focused on Resto,?? said Ortiz, who left a bruise under De La Hoya?s right eye in about eight rounds of sparring midway through training for Pacquiao in Big Bear, Calif., before he left for his own camp in Oxnard, Calif. ?I know I?m not in for an easy walk in the park.?? Schaefer interceded when a couple of reporters began to ask Ortiz about Arum?s comments. Schaefer said he did want the flap to distract Ortiz from his date with Resto. ?It is just very inappropriate for Bob to bring this up at this time,?? said Schaefer, who added he would be angry at any media member who continued to ask Ortiz about the controversy.
