Gotta Admit, Bob Arum is great for boxing

[Drunken Cat]

I know Arum gets a lot of hate in the boxing world from a lot of people, and a lot of that is justified, but I really do think that there is no better person to head the biggest boxing promotional company.

Why? Because even with all the success and wealth that Top Rank has achieved, Arum has not settled for that. He doesn't need to do nearly as much promoting and spreading of boxing matches around the world as he is doing. He would be just fine doing all of his shows in 1 city (Las Vegas) and Top Rank would still be a billion dollar company. But he isn't settling... he is trying to make boxing legal everywhere and trying to spread boxing around the world with incredible vigor. He is basically laying a path for all other boxing promoters as well. Because making boxing legal in more countries will also give more opportunities for other smaller promoters in more markets and Top Rank is the only company that is heading the movement.

So as much as is focused on the negative things that Arum does, I don't think people appreciate the positive that Arum is doing. I can't imagine anyone else making boxing as big and popular as it is right now.

[JOM'S]

i appreciate what he did for Erik Morales then and now Pac ...

[Sweet Jesus]

Bob Arum is scum.

[Sweet Jesus]

While working as a boxing promoter, Arum had been involved in many feuds and controversies.


In 1994, he was involved with John Daly for the High Noon in Hong Kong boxing event. The fights were called off at the last minute when Barry Hearn withdrew his fighters as no purses were forthcoming. John Daly blamed Arum when he said, "I've tried desperately to convince my partners to keep the faith. I offered them as much security as I could but it was not quite good enough. It seems I was ready to take the shots, but Mr Arum wasn't."^[2]


He has been involved in a forty year feud with Don King, who once called him a "rat fink" in 2000 for admitting during a federal trial that he bribed the International Boxing Federation president in order to gain a more favorable rating for one of his fighters. [1] [2]


He was penalized $125,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in 1995 for a bribe to get one of his fights sanctioned.


In 2003, Arum complained about the judging in the September 13 bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Sugar Shane Mosley and suggested there was a vendetta against him from a member of the Nevada State Commission that led to DeLa Hoya's loss. Arum later apologized for the remark which commission chairman Luther Mack accepted. [3]


On the first week of January 2004, FBI agents raided Arum's Top Rank office in Las Vegas. Arum was on vacation when his office was raided, and the FBI originally declined to comment on the raid. The media reported that the FBI was investigating allegations that Top Rank was involved in fixing the rematch between de la Hoya and Shane Mosley, even though De La Hoya lost and Arum was De La Hoya's promoter. The federal agency also announced that it was investigating some of Eric Esch's fights, as well as the Jorge Páez-Verdell Smith fight. The investigation closed in the summer of 2006 with no charges being filed.


In 2007, Floyd Mayweather Jr., who Arum promoted from 1996–2006, accused him of both underpaying and undermarketing him while exploting his talents and manipulating officials. [4]


In 2007, UFC president Dana White accused him of "sucking the life out of the sport (boxing) and not putting anything back in." Amongst White's criticisms were that Arum had created a weak undercard for the DeLa Hoya-Mayweather fight in 2007 saying Arum did not promote the show correctly. "He promoted that show completely the wrong way, because he worried about the money as opposed to trying to secure the future", White said. "He should have stacked that card. He should have had Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins and (Marco Antonio) Barrera and Winky Wright on there and used it to show that boxing is back". Arum responded by saying that MMA fighters need to examine the revenues being generated and ask why the UFC wasn't paying the more. White made these comments not realizing that Arum did not promote the De La Hoya-Mayweather bout, and was not involved in any way with the fight. His only connection was being he former promoter of both fighters. [5] [6]


Arum has been accused of being a racist by Robert Lee, the former president of the International Boxing Federation. Lee said of Arum "I pin the racism charge on him because he once told me: `We will let the Blacks and the Latinos fight in the ring and we will count the money on the outside'." [7]


In 2009, Arum defended Antonio Margarito when he lost his boxing license in the US state of California on charges of illegal handwraps ^[3], implied it was racially motivated and stated that Top Rank would not come back to the state of California until the issue was rectified ^[4].

[BoxingFanFirst]

He doesnt do **** for boxing moron. He matches his own top rank guys. Thats his main priority rather then making the best match up for boxing.

He doesn't do **** for promoting. He barely promotes if at all.

Everything he does is so he can make the most money. Don't get it twisted.

[General Zod]

Bob Arum is scum.

Which promoter would you class as a decent guy?

[Spirit]

Which promoter would you class as a decent guy?

Gary Shaw, Ahmet Ohner and Lou DiBella are very decent men to name a few

Arum is very calculated in his approach to boxing and many sources over the years have caused people to believe he truly is in the sport for self gain

He is milking whatever buzz his star fighters have left because hes pushing 80 and some of his fighters get preferential treatment

For example: Kendall Holt and Lamont Peterson barely got promoted while Donaire's and Gamboa's last couple of fights against tomato cans get lots of media coverage

[paulf]

Dana White's observations on Arum and professional boxing's corruption in general are spot on.

[PH|L]

I thought bringing a megastar like Pacquiao to a venue like Cowboy Stadium was brilliant.

My biggest knock on Arum is ****ty undercards and too many in-house fights.

[Ray*]

The only thing Arum is good for is putting cards together without the need or help of TV networks apart from that he does nothing really for boxing than bring it down.