Bob Arum’s passion as a promoter has never been in question. It was no surprise, then, that a couple of events have angered and pleased him.
He’s mad that the World Boxing Council, in its infinite wisdom, wants to call next Saturday’s third super featherweight fight between Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao a title elimination fight.
The WBC decided this week at its annual convention in Croatia that the winner would be the No. 1 challenger to Marco Antonio Barrera’s belt. The problem is, Humberto Soto, as well as Arum, already paid a total of $180,000 in sanctioning fees for what was a WBC super featherweight title elimination fight between Soto and Ivan Valle in August.
Arum’s anger has been tempered some because his chief rival, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, has run into trouble with some of its recent signings.
When Soto stopped Valle in the fourth round Aug. 12, he had earned the right to fight Barrera. Paid for it, too. But Tuesday, Arum was informed via telephone that the WBC was making Morales-Pacquiao a title elimination fight, with the winner earning a shot at Barrera.
Either Morales or Pacquiao against Barrera would be more exciting than Soto-Barrera. But that’s not the point. Arum said if the WBC wants to say Morales-Pacquiao III is a title elimination fight, that’s fine, but there will be no sanctioning fees paid. “They can call it whatever they want,” Arum said, “but I’m not going to let these hard-working kids, who come with everything they’ve got, pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in sanctioning fees. … Humberto Soto fought. He paid sanctioning fees because that was an elimination fight at the same weight. So, how can there be another elimination fight?”
Of course, the WBC could be intending to give Arum and Soto their money back. Yeah, sure. Shelly Finkel, Pacquiao’s manager, said Friday that as far as he and Arum are concerned, this will not be an elimination fight.
Now, for Arum’s good news. Over the past few months, Golden Boy Promotions has announced the signing of three current star fighters: Juan Diaz, Pacquiao and Diego Corrales. Alas, Golden Boy might not end up with any of them. Diaz apparently never signed with Golden Boy and ended up signing with Don King. Pacquiao had a clause in the contract he signed with Arum that said he could not sign with any other promoter until after the Morales fight. And Gary Shaw, Corrales’ most recent promoter, is challenging the contract Corrales recently signed with Golden Boy.
“… It exposes the fact that they have no ability to develop their own fighters,” Arum said of Golden Boy. “They don’t know how to do it, they can’t do it, they don’t have the patience to do it.”
Arum said he put the aforementioned clause in Pacquiao’s contract so as to be afforded the opportunity to sign Pacquiao to a long-term contract. Arum said Pacquiao and Golden Boy violated that contract when they signed their contract in late September.
Golden Boy has denied any wrongdoing. But Arum suggested Thursday, during a Pacquiao workout at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, that Pacquiao would remain with Top Rank after next Saturday’s fight.
Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said that it was Diaz’s manager, Willie Savannah, who prematurely told the media about Diaz signing with Golden Boy before he went with King.
Schaefer also said that his contract with Pacquiao is valid and that Arum has been warned by Golden Boy’s attorneys that if he doesn’t back off, he will be sued for interfering with Pacquiao’s contract.
Schaefer said that before he signed Corrales, he told Shaw that although he didn’t want to go after one of his fighters, that Golden Boy was one of many promotional companies that had interest in Corrales, thought to be a free agent. He said that at no time during their conversation did Shaw tell him Corrales was still under contract to Gary Shaw Productions.
“We have done nothing wrong,” Schaefer said. “And I’m sick and tired of these bunch of promoters trying to make us out like we are poaching fighters. This is a bunch of jealous guys who are suddenly seeing their kingdom threatened and they don’t like it.”
