By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says he is hoping Ring Magazine pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao can attend the 70th birthday anniversary celebration of Muhammad Ali on January 18 in Las Vegas.
Arum told BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard that the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health which is the cutting edge on brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer are doing a dinner in honor of Ali who has Parkinson’s had asked him to bring in former fighters to join the celebration.
Arum said he already had commitments from George Foreman, Ken Norton, Leon Spinks, Chuck Wepner, George Chuvalo and also Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran and we’re reaching out for Marvin Hagler.
Arum said “Hopefully I’ll be talking to Manny and he can join the festivities and I’ll even allow him to sing a song in honor of Muhammad Ali. So it should be a great, great night.”
Arum indicated that “one of the reasons it all fits together is not only because of the Parkinson’s research which they are doing at the Cleveland Clinic but because they have started a program which Top Rank is working very closely with them on, that when a kid starts to fight they do a whole scan, pictures and everything on his brain and every few months they take another study so they have a record of any kind of deterioration due to punches and from that they can decide when to stop a kid from fighting.”
Arum said “that’s something done scientifically which I think is going to be wonderful for the sport of boxing.”
