Top Rank’s CEO Bob Arum has seen and done it all in boxing, but even he will admit that the May 2nd mega bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is unchartered territory. Arum has been involved and responsible for some of boxing’s biggest promotions, and now he will make history once again.
However, Top Rank is taking a backseat to Mayweather as his self-named promotional company takes lead promoter duties for the mega bout. With Mayweather in the driver seat due to his undefeated record that affords him the tag as the “A-side” in the bout, Floyd decided the fight would be in Las Vegas, where Floyd resides and has fought for his last 12 consecutive bouts.
Arum had hoped to convince Floyd to at least consider other venues, specifically AT&T Stadium, formally Cowboy Stadium, but any venue other than MGM never stood a chance. There are benefits to having the fight in Vegas and Arum acknowledges them in an interview with Thaboxingvoice.com’s Anthony “Rod” Rodriguez.
“It’s a big fight, probably the biggest financial bonanza in the history of boxing,” Arum told Thaboxingvoice.com. “Las Vegas can accommodate big fights, I mean the arena is relatively small, 16,000 as [opposed] to 100,000 of Jerry’s place, but the one thing about Vegas is we have all the hotel rooms and restaurants to accommodate a big crowd. We’ll have thousands of people coming into Vegas, even those who are unable to get a ticket to the fight.”
Arum is doing the best he can from the second in command position, although he admits that things would be different with Top Rank at the helm.
In the interview, Rod gave Arum examples of certain details involved in the overall promotion, things like promoting, location, tickets, and press conferences, and asked which of these aspects Arum would do different, to which Arum responded, “All of the above. But you have to play the hand that you’re dealt, right, and so that’s what we’re doing. But Manny Pacquiao knocks out Mayweather, which I believe he will, and then our hand will be completely different.”
Some people might accuse Arum of being sour, but he has a point. Mayweather Promotions is not an experienced entity, especially with major promotions. They have never been the lead promoter in any fight involving Mayweather. Even last year with the Marcos Maidana rematch, Floyd publically stated that they would not use Golden Boy Promotions after Richard Schaefer parted ways with the company, but in the end Golden Boy was involved and at the forefront.
Mayweather is not an experienced promoter and any seasoned promoter would be somewhat out of their league in a fight of this magnitude, this is why I believe Mayweather would’ve been better off swallowing his pride and taking a backseat to Arum and Top Rank.
The argument could be made that this fight doesn’t need a true promotional push, and there is no way of knowing exactly what is being left on the table with Mayweather at the helm.
Regardless, Top Rank would’ve been able to execute in a more precise manner. Arum is a stringent businessman, and Top Rank has stayed in business all this time for a reason, we’ll see where Mayweather Promotions is once Floyd retires.
One thing that Arum said that is irrefutable is the swing in power if Pacquiao defeats Mayweather. And if Manny can KO Floyd then Top Rank can dictate all terms in a major way. Based on Mayweather’s options and fighting style, the current “pound for pound” kingpin might be begging for $40M, the offer he once gave Pacquiao.
