Bob Arum took a moment recently to express his thoughts on the August 21 matchup between eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and unified welterweight king Errol Spence. Arum says he favors Spence in the fight but would never count out Manny Pacquiao against anyone.
“There are some guys in life you never count out,” Arum explained. “One of them is Manny Pacquaio.”
Bob Arum remembers the criticism he once faced for scheduling a fight between Manny Pacquiao and the much bigger Oscar De La Hoya. Arum recalls officials in the Philippines threatening to have him jailed for endangering Pacquiao’s life. The veteran boxing promoter also remembers the dominating performance his fighter delivered against De La Hoya.
Bob Arum talked about the future of WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford. He denies online claims that a fight between Crawford and Josesito Lopez is in the works. Arum says the plan is for Crawford to fight again in October. The promoter did not want to discuss potential opponents before participating in an upcoming meeting with other members of the Crawford team.
Bob Arum addressed critics who feel he is the reason for Crawford not landing Pacquiao and other big fights. He characterizes them as people who do not understand the business side of boxing.
Arum says he arranged a fight between Crawford and Pacquiao with investment money coming from Abu Dhabi. He says his investors pulled out once the Covid pandemic began to affect the global economy.
Bob Arum spoke about the reality of promoting a Pacquiao fight against anyone. He explains the enormous purse commanded by Pacquiao makes it difficult for promoters to profit. He commends the PBC if they can put on a successful fight between Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence. But Arum says he projected that the boxing match between Pacquiao and Crawford would lose money and decided not to pursue it further.