Bob Arum, boxing?s big bucks promoter, has been running his mouth more than usual lately. On one hand he has berated perhaps his only real competitor in the game, De la Hoya, while on the other, he has joined forces with his former foe Don King.
According to an article in the Sun-Sentinel Arum cut into East L.A.?s ?Golden Boy? at a press conferenece:
?They?ve got no background in boxing,? Arum, actually 79, said Tuesday of the HBO matchmakers Golden Boy Promotions advises. ?They rely on Oscar, who?s a dummy. Oscar is one of the stupidest guys I?ve ever met. I?m just saying what it is. The guy is really not smart. Forget just ?not smart.? He?s not just even average.?
But that wasn?t all. He also attributed much of De la Hoya?s fame to his worn tricks, such as paying women to throw their bras at him when he enters the ring.
This outburst is symptomatic of Arum?s recent odd behavior.
For example, after a decade of trash-talking about Don King — and implying he was stupid — the Harvard graduate said, ??He?s a professional. He knows how to sell a fight.?
This may have something, if not everything, to do with his upcoming fight featuring Miguel Cotto and Trinidad Mayorga — who is signed with King. Cotto, beaten to a pulp by Pacquiao last year, has recovered and could use the easy fight against Don King?s overhyped Mayorga.
Mayorga is everything that boxing is: 80% marketing and 20% fighting. Thanks to Don King?s scurrilous speeches and bad boy rep, Mayorga became — if even for a short while — a major name despite hardly winning a major fight. This fight should have been Miguel Cotto versus Sergio Martinez. Of course, if Cotto were to lose that match he would basically have to head back to that house in Bayam?n and take up boxing lessons.
If Arum and King are guilty of anything on this card, it is a lack of creativity. Boxing doesn?t need new blood, it needs new promoters.
Arum has been criticized lately for his pairing of Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley, instead of having chosen a younger, more skilled fighter, rather than a great fighter far after his prime.
Take it straight from the horse?s mouth:
Say what they may about De la Hoya, but he?s the only one presenting anything new in boxing, mainly taking in talented fighters from other countries and giving them big fights. See Paul Williams for details — that is if he ever got up from the canvas.
