In a little over a weeks’ time, WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto will defend his crown against wild Ricardo Mayorga inside of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. On paper the fight may not be enticing to the masses but given Cotto’s systematic attack and Mayorga’s penchant for swinging for the fences, we should get our share of drama when the meet.
One of the interesting subplots surrounding the fight is that it marks the first time that promoters Bob Arum, who oversees Cotto, and Don King, who handles Mayorga, will be collaborating with one another in nearly five years, dating back to the April 2006 Floyd Mayweather-Zab Judah bout. Once heated rivals, the two men have warmed up to one another in recent years and appears to have nothing but admiration for one another despite their past.
<--- Slideshow: Images of Bob Arum with his stable of fighters including Pacquiao, Cotto, Pavlik and others
Speaking to the media earlier today, Arum revealed that during his early years in the sport it was in fact King who he learned much of his craft from.
?There?s never been a better salesman in boxing than Don King,” said Arum. “I worked my tail off as a promoter because I had such a measuring stick, a bar to reach. I think Don made me a lot better a promoter than I would have been and I think I made Don a better promoter than he would have been.”
In the cutthroat business of boxing Arum has ruffled his share of feathers and is currently in the middle of a feud with Golden Boy Promotions, the Los Angeles-based outfit ran by Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer. In praising King we see Arum take a few apparent shots at Golden Boy.
?Contrast this to the other so-called promoters today who all they can do when they get competition is whine and complain and shriek that a promoter has their fighters fighting their own fighters; instead of getting out and competing against me and Don. These guys don?t deserve to be called promoters,” he continued.
Arum insists that he has no issues establishing working relationships with other promoters in the sport but the shrewd New York native is critical when assessing the playing field.
?I have no problem dealing with another promoter,” Arum noted. “The operative word is promoter. Don King is a promoter. He knows how to sell a fight and he knows how to sell an event. We don?t fight with each other while we do the event. We promote the event and we know what the goal is. I mean look around today, other than maybe Kathy Duva, how many real promoters are their out there in boxing in this country? I say very few. They?re free riders who make deals with a network or some Indian casinos and they call themselves promoters? To me, that?s not a promoter.”
News flash: Ricardo Mayorga calls Miguel Cotto a failure
Each man has been in the game for forty years running and they have both shown a remarkable ability to move with the times and always stay relevant, Arum more so than King as they approach their twilight. Speaking on the secret to his success, Arum keeps his philosophy simple.
?First, nothing replaces hard work,” Arum claimed..” And second is we are both workaholics. Sometimes people get old and out of touch, but I have always had a policy in my company of getting younger and bringing in people who are smart who can keep up with Facebook and Twitter and so forth.”
Last July King turned heads when he was spotted cozying up to perennial superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. in South Florida. Rumors began circulating that King and Mayweather would possibly begin working with one another but nothing but it didn’t evolve into anything more than friendship.
Mayweather or course is the one man who the public wants to see Filipino star Manny Pacquiao face. Arum has been working with Pacquiao for nearly nine years and despite two failed attempts towards negotiating a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, he feels that King would hold the key if he were to ever lure Floyd over.
?If Don had Mayweather and I have Pacquiao, I didn?t say the fight would be made in a day,” Arum quipped. “I said the fight would be made within one hour. Don and I would have cut to the essentials. We would have worked out the few details and we make the fight. Mayweather would do well to go with Don. It would be one of the greatest promotions ever.”
Whether or not Pacquiao and Mayweather end up fighting, you can tell how comfortable Arum is working with King these days. He closes out by insisting that their newfound union will continue in the future.
?Don and I bring different types of energy to a fight and I think it works. I think the public is intrigued and gets to know about the event. It benefits the fighters and it benefits the public and it benefits the sport of boxing. So by all means we are going to do other events together.?
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
