So much for peace in our time.
After a brief hiatus this year during which they appeared to be working together in an effort to make big fights, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, boxing’s two biggest matchmaking companies, are at each other’s throats again.
At the crux of their latest war of words is — surprise! — trying to make the megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy’s CEO, blasted Top Rank chairman Bob Arum for trying to prevent the fight from happening. Mayweather has secured May 5 at the MGM Grand Garden and would like to fight Pacquiao on that date. Arum refuses to commit to that date or site.
“The boxing fans are really sick and tired about the lies of Bob Arum,” Schaefer told RingTV.com. “The fact is that yesterday he was lying, today he’s lying, and tomorrow, he will still be lying. Once a liar, always a liar.
“Now, he comes again with these bull stories about negotiations and meetings taking place. Who the heck is he fooling?”
Arum, busy promoting Saturday’s rematch between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito in New York, said, “We’ve been fielding proposals and talking to people.”
Schaefer, who has helped promote Mayweather’s past five fights, isn’t buying it.
“Who is he trying to fool? The public? The fight fans? The fighters? The networks? Everybody is sick and tired of that lying snake,” Schaefer said.
“Arum does not want to make the Pacquiao fight, so stop believing everything this guy says.”
