Legendary promoter Bob Arum, 90, remains a force in the boxing world

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In the days leading up to his birthday on December 8, and faced with the stark reality of turning 90, legendary American boxing promoter Bob Arum became discouraged, despite being in good health and physically active.

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“Officially he was going to be an old man,” Arum joked this week from his Los Angeles home. “But then once I turned 90, I realized that I felt and acted the same as when I was 89; is no different.”

Arum, the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a Las Vegas-based promotional company, had planned to be in Montreal this week to watch light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, one of his many protégés, defend his titles Friday for the night at the Bell Center. against Marcus Browne.

But Arum, who has not visited Montreal since 1980, when he co-promoted the welterweight title fight at the Olympic Stadium between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran, is exhausted these days after spending a week in his native New York attending countless birthday parties and promoting. a Dec. 11 card at Madison Square Garden, during which heavyweight champion Tyson Fury flew in from England to sing happy birthday, in the ring, to Arum.

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Arum, a lawyer and Harvard Law School graduate, fell into promoting boxing by chance and said he hopes to make a difference in the lives of boxers by helping them reach their earning potential. Fury’s magnanimous gesture seemed to confirm it.

“They offered me a good contract,” Beterbiev said this week, without elaborating. And it is clear that the affinity goes both ways. “He’s a fantastic guy and a tremendous fighter,” Arum said. “We have had a good relationship with him.

“Hit like a mule and take a good hit. He is considered the most dangerous in the division due to his great punching power and his determination not to leave the fight to the judges. “

At last count, Top Rank had promoted more than 2,100 fight cards since 1966, including nearly 700 world title fights. The company has suffered a financial hit over the past 21 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since being cleared to return in June 2020, originally with no spectators in Las Vegas, he has lost money on every show.

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Arum and Top Rank resisted, supported by shareholders like ESPN in the US, and now it works as usual. He still goes to his office on a daily basis and although he has learned to delegate while distancing himself to some extent from technological changes and social media, Arum still has a pulse in the world of boxing.

“I can put my hands up and say, ‘I’m too old and I let the young people take care of everything,’” Arum said. “That is too easy. Or I can let the young people take care of all the things that I am not familiar with.

“I am delighted with what I am doing and will continue to do so,” he added. And don’t let anyone tell you that you are too old. It’s as simple as that. The key element is that you have to enjoy what you are doing. For me, nothing is more fun than promoting boxing, going to boxing matches and seeing the development of these young men, and now women. “

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Born in 1931, Arum worked in the United States Department of Justice as a prosecutor during the Kennedy administration and had never seen a boxing match when ordered to seize funds from a card. Jim Brown, the former running back for the Cleveland Browns, subsequently introduced Arum to Muhammad Ali. Realizing that Ali was about to become a polarizing figure for his refusal to join the US military.After being drafted to go to war in Vietnam, Arum became Ali’s lawyer and promoter. .

His first show was a 1966 fight between Ali and George Chuvalo in Toronto. The fight was scheduled for the Montreal Forum, but American Legion veterans threatened former Mayor Jean Drapeau with a boycott of Expo 67, Arum said. The party subsequently moved to Maple Leaf Gardens with Toronto native Chuvalo replacing Ernie Terrell.

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“The clue he had was that he was making history,” Arum said. “Ali would be a star figure, risking jail.”

Along with Ali, Arum promoted Marvin Hagler’s entire middleweight championship career; Manny Pacquiao; Oscar de la hoya; Floyd Mayweather; George Foreman; Miguel Cotto and many others. And the elixir of the fighting game is still as attractive as it was 55 years ago, Arum said.

“In boxing you have a guy in the ring, fighting for his life and livelihood,” he explained. “There is something very dramatic about that. You see in front of you the tension that a fighter has when entering the ring, risking his entire career and sustenance when facing an opponent.

“That dynamic is something that has always trapped me.”

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