Memo to Uncle Bob Arum:
Bob, I know you and Mike Koncz are having great difficulty getting over the hump, so to speak with a dromedary reference, on that deal to bring the Antonio Margarito-Manny Pacquiao bout to the burning sands of bu Dhabi but isn’t it time you stopped declaring deadlines?
In his lastes convo with industrious Pinoy sports scribbler/talking head Ronnie Nathanielsz, Arum declared that the royal family or whoever may be keen on bringing the handwrap cheater and Pacman to the UAE for a Nov. 13 bout, has a TWO DAY DEADLINE to make a deal.
Koncz, meanwhile, is supposed to be on the ground, or burrowed in sand or something, in Abu Dhabi although, in another curious bit of business, he refused to tell Reporter Ronnie his exact location, mumbling something about ?being out of town? when they talked. Koncz stuck to this flimsy story even after the boss scribe told him Arum had informed him that the furtive Canadian was huddling with Uncle Toonose or whoever in the Middle Eastern country.
But back to Arum’s declared deadline.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. completely ignored Bob Arum’s self manufatured “deadline” to accept terms for a Manny Pacquiao fight on Nov. 13. Maybe Floyd was using his diamond-encrusted Ipod and digging on some Fitty Cent raps although it is also well known that Mayweather is a major Wolfgang Amadeus Mozat buff, saying, “Wolfie is the man, better than Rick Ross, a genius!” (Photo source unknown)
If this goes as well as when he slammed the bargaining door on Team Mayweather, we all know the outcome.
Zero, nada, zilch, bupkes, meaning nothing happens. The deadline flies by and there is no deal. Maybe Arum will spare us a 3 a.m. international media conference call.
But Bob, you need to stop imposing the faux deadlines. They are transparent and ridiculous. Maybe you’re a frustrated school teacher who thinks he’s mandating when homework must be turned in under penalty of staying after class.
While I know Koncz has been talking to people in the Middle East dating back to before Manny’s election to Congress, Arum has never put much stock in the situation.
Thus, all the jokes about camels and peace in the Middle East and so on. If there was a serious deal, Arum would be tight-lipped, not making light of the offer.
I’m setting a deadline of my own. I’m giving Arum until 12 noon, New York time, this friday to stop babbling about Abu Dhabi.
I know it keeps Margo-Manny in the news and Arum is really only waiting for the California commission to hear Tone Loc’s modified ?mea culpa? so he can get their boxing blessing on Aug. 18.
Art by the inimitable John Paul Raloto
With each passing hour, each passing day, Arum has Todd duBoef front and backchanneling the decision makers at the MGM Grand so that they can put pressure on the four Nevada commission members who are against or undecided about issuing the Mexican a license to fight in Las Vegas.
It may be helpful for Arum’s cause, which is landing Margo-Manny at the MGM above all other venues, that MGM Mirage, the casino behemoth, just reported dismal financial results including a loss of $2 a share as opposed to a last report loss of just 60 cents per share.
Overall, MGM Mirage reported a second quarter loss of $883.5 million.
The MGM Grand and all their other Vegas properies are still hurting for certain and a Big Fight weekend would be a temporary tonic, but a tonic nonetheless, for the car jockeys, the cocktail waitresses and even the maids in the gambling mecca.
One California greenlights ?Margocheato,? he may get a 4-1 vote or even a 5-0 shutout victory in Nevada.
I mean, it’s not like gaming is any kind of a major industry in the Silver State, right?
Do these five commissioners want to be known for driving big fights to Texas or to Abu Dhabi?
Remember, all five were named to the boxing board by the governor. And Nevada’s governor works for the major industry.
Mayweather gets an Arum deadline. Abu Dhabi gets a contrived Arum deadline.
But his adopted hometown?
Las Vegas gets a pass because Uncle Bob knows that Dallas and Abu Dhabi are just window dresssing anyway.
Arum’s first choice is to stage this fight a 10 minute drive from his world headquarters in the Howard Hughes center near The Strip.
He’d by lying if he said he doesn’t want to accommodate the MGM Lions.
Then he has bed and breakfast at his mansion every day. Then he walks on gilded splinters to his car and, 15 minutes later, he is at his office.
Besides, Vegas has enough sand for everybody.
