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I got this from Ring Mag
I already knew what Arum said but never put it in this way. This is what Arum said after the Lopez-Gamboa fights.
“I know what people want and they can go [expletive] themselves,” Arum said with great exuberance. “I want to wait and build this to be the biggest featherweight fight of all time. It’s my job as a promoter to do that. When they fight, they’ll fight to be best featherweight in the world. I want to see those two clean out the division and I don’t want to see them rush to fight each other. There’s no way I want to rush and do this.”
Doug's Mailbag
Granted this fight would be bigger if both were more well known to the casual fan, but this is the overall problem with boxing. Arum himself put it out there that Gamboa and Lopez would fight in the future particularly if they were both to be victorious, but now he says he knows what the fans want and they can go f__k themselves?
This is the problem with boxing because guys like this don't care what the fans actually want to see and are too concerned about the business of boxing and what benefits them the most. This comment was pathetic and so is the fact that Mayweather-Pacquaio didn't get made. I blame this on Arum and Mayweather. -- Mike, NYC
Me too. And you are absolutely right. Arum’s statement is an example of what is at the core of boxing’s ills. The power brokers -- the promoters, network executives, managers, and star fighters -- don’t give a damn about what the real fans want. This is one of the main reasons the sport stopped growing (in the U.S., at least) more than two decades ago.
I’ve said this before, but I’ll go ahead and repeat it, boxing could learn a thing or two from the comic book industry. Regular readers of the mailbag know that outside of boxing my only interest/hobby is comic books. What I like about the comic book publishers (and even the producers and directors of the big-budget Hollywood adaptations of a lot of comic books) is that they’ll go to the various conventions and listen to what the super nerds and ultra geeks have to say about the characters and story lines before they start a new publication or begin production on a film. They actually start with the hardcore fans, those grown-ass men dressed up like Green Lantern.
Now contrast that with the boxing industry, which at best takes its hardcore fans for granted and at times appears to have utter contempt for the loyalists. Arum has no problem referring to hardcore fans as “schmucks” on record.
Can you imagine Stan Lee going to Comic Con and addressing the thousands of fanboys there like this:
“What’s up losers! I know what you want to see in my books and on the screen, but guess what? You can all go and f__k yourselves! Ha ha! How ya like them apples!?”
It wouldn’t happen. Even if Lee really felt that way (and he doesn’t) it wouldn’t happen. It wouldn’t happen in any successful industry.
I already knew what Arum said but never put it in this way. This is what Arum said after the Lopez-Gamboa fights.
“I know what people want and they can go [expletive] themselves,” Arum said with great exuberance. “I want to wait and build this to be the biggest featherweight fight of all time. It’s my job as a promoter to do that. When they fight, they’ll fight to be best featherweight in the world. I want to see those two clean out the division and I don’t want to see them rush to fight each other. There’s no way I want to rush and do this.”
Doug's Mailbag
Granted this fight would be bigger if both were more well known to the casual fan, but this is the overall problem with boxing. Arum himself put it out there that Gamboa and Lopez would fight in the future particularly if they were both to be victorious, but now he says he knows what the fans want and they can go f__k themselves?
This is the problem with boxing because guys like this don't care what the fans actually want to see and are too concerned about the business of boxing and what benefits them the most. This comment was pathetic and so is the fact that Mayweather-Pacquaio didn't get made. I blame this on Arum and Mayweather. -- Mike, NYC
Me too. And you are absolutely right. Arum’s statement is an example of what is at the core of boxing’s ills. The power brokers -- the promoters, network executives, managers, and star fighters -- don’t give a damn about what the real fans want. This is one of the main reasons the sport stopped growing (in the U.S., at least) more than two decades ago.
I’ve said this before, but I’ll go ahead and repeat it, boxing could learn a thing or two from the comic book industry. Regular readers of the mailbag know that outside of boxing my only interest/hobby is comic books. What I like about the comic book publishers (and even the producers and directors of the big-budget Hollywood adaptations of a lot of comic books) is that they’ll go to the various conventions and listen to what the super nerds and ultra geeks have to say about the characters and story lines before they start a new publication or begin production on a film. They actually start with the hardcore fans, those grown-ass men dressed up like Green Lantern.
Now contrast that with the boxing industry, which at best takes its hardcore fans for granted and at times appears to have utter contempt for the loyalists. Arum has no problem referring to hardcore fans as “schmucks” on record.
Can you imagine Stan Lee going to Comic Con and addressing the thousands of fanboys there like this:
“What’s up losers! I know what you want to see in my books and on the screen, but guess what? You can all go and f__k yourselves! Ha ha! How ya like them apples!?”
It wouldn’t happen. Even if Lee really felt that way (and he doesn’t) it wouldn’t happen. It wouldn’t happen in any successful industry.