For a sport that thrives in the gambling
capital of the world, Las Vegas, Boxing is known for displaying the odd card
trick or two, but for Top Rank Boss, Bob Arum he has made it into an art form.
Arum possesses an arsenal of tricks that
would make a Las Vegas dealer blush. It’s the ability to waive one hand in
front of everyone and hit them over the head with the other, and he has shown
it again with the scheduling of the Pacquiao-Bradley fight this weekend. On the
face of it, the fight looks like a blockbuster, The Mega Power that is Pacquiao
against the undefeated, Tim Bradley.
But if you look beneath the surface a few
cracks appear.
Bob Arum is the head of the promotional
company, Top Rank, which promotes Manny Pacquiao along with a plethora of big names
in the sport. Arum has become a master at keeping his fights in house and
almost refusing to do business with rival promotional company, Golden Boy
Promotions headed by Oscar De La Hoya.
Golden Boy house perhaps the biggest fish
in Boxing, Floyd Mayweather and two fighters touted as the next generation,
Saul Alvarez and Amir Khan. Floyd Mayweather points the blame squarely at Bob
Arum for why a fight between he and Manny Pacquiao continues to elude fight
fans, given Arum’s hesitance to risk his cash cow, despite it no doubt being the
biggest earning fight of all time.
There are many in Boxing who see Pacquiao
as a protected species, who Arum closely matches up with Top Rank fighters.
It’s smart business in one way, as Arum takes a cut of both fighters purse and
see’s his future earnings rise no matter what the result. Four of Pacquiao’s
last six opponents have been Top Rank fighters with Joshua Clottey, Miguel
Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Tim Bradley all under Arum, with Pacquiao venturing
away from the stable against the over the hill, “Sugar” Shane Mosley, formerly
managed by Arum, and Juan Manuel Marquez, who many considered to be in a
similar state to Mosley at the time.
The Marquez fight was a war, with the
ageing Mexican turning back the clock to shatter the “Superman” image that
Pacquiao has created, only for Pacquiao to be awarded a dubious points decision
victory, which I liken to daylight robbery. Pacquiao then looked at his next conquest and
hype began to build towards a mega-fight with Mayweather.
Once again, the talk from both camps
amounted to nothing and both looked at other opponents. Mayweather went after
the next best thing and lined up a Super fight with Miguel Cotto. Most assumed
Pacquiao would welcome Marquez again for a historic fourth fight, but instead
he turned to Tim Bradley.
Bradley will walk into the MGM Grand Garden
Arena on Sunday with a chance to pull off one of the biggest upsets of all
time. Whilst it wont be as surprising as that win by James “Buster” Douglas,
most people expect Pacquiao to make light work of the young American.
Sure Bradley is undefeated, but he has
spent the last twelve months ducking the biggest name in the Light-Welterweight
division, Amir Khan. Before that it took him an age to have him meet Devon Alexander.
On Sunday he moves up to Welterweight to
meet Pacquiao for the WBO Welterweight Title. Whilst it’s a weight Bradley has
fought at previously, he has spent his career campaigning in lighter weight
classes. Bradley is unproven at the elite level and has shown a genuine lack of
desire to meet the biggest names until now.
Sure he has been in the ring with opponents
like Junior Witter, Nate Campbell, Lamont Petersen, Devon Alexander and Joel
Casamayor, but none are anywhere near the level of Pacquiao.
His last fight was on the Pacquiao-Marquez
undercard and Bradley promptly dispatched Casamayor in eight rounds. An
impressive performance no doubt, but Casamayor has always done his best work at
Lightweight, not Welterweight.
Bradley could luck out on Sunday and find
himself winning the jackpot. Not only does he claim his highest ever pay day in
meeting Pacquiao (touted as $7.5 million), but would most probably find himself
walking into a fight with Floyd Mayweather that would command him almost triple
the earnings.
But I can’t see Bradley getting the job
done.
Whilst Pacquiao is heavy favorite and until now I am yet to hear anyone of note predict otherwise, debate is
starting to stir around Arum and his prized fighter. The fight with Marquez
showed Pacquiao might not be the star he has been hyped to be. An inability to offer
a rematch to Marquez, or Cotto and a refusal by Arum to do business with Golden
Boy at times, means questions are being asked off Team Pacquiao. For so long
Mayweather has been cast as the man responsible for a delay in the mega-fight
being made, but Mayweather won a substantial public relations hold in taking
the dangerous fight with Miguel Cotto, shining a large spotlight now on
Pacquiao.
Come Sunday Pacquiao will take home his substantial
pay and look good in the process when he hands Bradley his first loss, but like
everything in Vegas, the bright lights will again mask a dark undertow….
And another Bob Arum card trick that pays
full dividends.
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