When this writer listened to Hall of Fame promoters Bob Arum and Don King participate on a conference call Thursday afternoon you wondered. Were these guys ever adversaries? According to them it was all business over the years and it still is today.
But there is one exception. Arum and King are two of the most noted of the boxing promoters, 79-years old are both, and according to what they say, never adversaries. King, in particular, ever so controversial, made the fights and we would not be talking about pay-per-view fights and bigger venues if it weren?t for Arum and King.
They reminisced and gave their views on how they aligned after five years to promote the upcoming welterweight title fight next Saturday on Showtime PPV when Ricardo Mayorga challenges Miguel Cotto from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. A question was asked, ?Have you two ever been enemies??
King with his customary laugh said. ?We came to save boxing.? Arum knows if his fighter Cotto loses to Mayorga, well King then has a deal. Mayorga would get a shot at Manny Pacquiao, Arum?s prize and jewel. ?If he does win, Mayorga against Pacquiao will be the biggest pay-per-view of all time,? commented Arum.
And that is realistic. Arum has been the king of pay-per-view fights. Oscar De La Hoya, Cotto, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have grossed the most. Pacquiao continues to be a draw and has become the leader and there is no telling how much more would be gained with a potential Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.
And they did come together to hopefully resurrect a sport. True the names are not there that put Arum and King on the map. Both involved with Muhammad Ali, King with the ?Thriller In Manilla? and the third Ali-Joe Frazier fight And Arum with Sugar Rey Leonard-Tommy Hearns, and promoter of the first PPV fight between Leonard and Roberto Duran that will always be remembered.
Arum and King will only help the sport towards some type of resurgence. The Showtime Network deals Arum arranged with the Cotto fight and Pacquiao defending against Shane Mosley in May could put boxing back on network television with the CBS Network connection. That may be a long way off, however this is a start.
So when two of the biggest promoters in the sport get together, thinking as we do that they are bitter adversaries, there is every reason to be optimistic. ?Don King is a promoter,? said Arum.? We don?t fight when we do an event.? King has been seen with Floyd Mayweather Jr, in Miami which months ago fueled speculation that the fight was a go with Pacquiao.
Arum made reference to how other promoters are not viable and was not being specific about his known adversary Oscar De La Hoya and the ?Golden Boy? promotion.
?Other than Kathy Duva, they are free riders,? he said. King listened and Arum made his point known. His former champion, De Lay Hoya put Richard Schaffer in charge of the negotiations that stalled the anticipated Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown.
Promoters like Arum and King made the fights happen, even with big money at the time of Ali, Hearns and Hagler. There was no stipulation in the contract that a fighter had to undergo Olympic style drug testing procedures. But that is the difference of boxing today from yesterday. The stipulations then were disparities in purses and not PPV revenue, and in the end what was best for the fan and sport came to fruition
?If Don had Mayweather, we cut the essentials and make the fight,? commented Arum about his respect for King in regards to the fight that may never happen. ?De La Hoya a promoter?? said Arum refuting claims that Golden Boy is the promoter of lightweight champion Amir Khan continuing his onslaught about his new adversary.
They are on this reunion tour right now, Arum and King, and some say it will not last. But it can because they think alike. Old school for what is right for the sport and for boxing fans.
?We came together to save a sport that has been good to us,? said King And if everything doesn?t fall into place, this formation of Arum and King again? To that King said, ?If anything happens it will be our fault.?
e-mail Rich Mancuso: [email protected]
