Exclusive: Bob Arum Anticipates ‘Robust’ Programming Starting Sept & ‘Up To 40 Events’

There will be travel, with Lovee, I think, to Japan to see WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr.’s campaign. That is June 19, the Georgian Norman facing Jin Sasaki at welterweight. And zero doubt fate willing, he will be in NYC July 26—not attached to the PR Day Parade festivities—for the last ESPN gig of an 8-year union, which Arum had nothing but love for when we chatted.

“The last one,” he said, referring to Xander Zayas ’ 154-pound title crack versus Jorge Garcia, which will unfold in the Madison Square Garden Theatre. I didn’t say it because I wasn’t thinking it at the time, but it is perhaps sadly fitting that the last dance won’t be in that big room. I began to think about relationships, unions, and marriages — and the feelings associated with being in and out of love. This fits the end line, kinda. *shrugs* *sit with it*

2025 Not At All 2018

Chalk it up to the times—the Top Rank foundation crew from when this expiring ESPN deal started, the Terence Crawfords and Lomachenkos, are older, part-time players now. It’s darn right a period of transition for Top Rank, for Arum seeking to soldier on in a business world vastly different than we had in 2018. Turki Alalshikh was not on boxing fans’ radar then. Now, he dominates or wants to dominate.

Should They Have A Teddy Atlas Cameo?

The last dance—Arum said it will feature a heart-felt tone “because we really appreciate having been on ESPN.” He noted that he gets it, “they had to cut us, and with the NBA deal, and Formula 1 (and other leagues now off the ESPN slate).” Arum conceded that the consumptive state of 2018 is not the same spending mood as now.

He reiterated that Top Rank will likely be a three-pronged programming platform but gave no hint as to where they’ll land. “Not until papers are signed.”

Arum Speaks Of “September Morn” For His Top Rank

Soonish, it sounds like “we will be announcing an even more robust program starting in September,” Arum continued. What that will look like is an in-progress situation. The Turki takeover attempt, in case you wonder, does not seem to vex Arum as he negotiates new unions with platform partners.

Arum Talks Turki

“Turki is finding out, as lots of big money people, that it’s not as easy as it looks. Boxing is very, very tricky…like all big-league businesses.”

I admitted I have been put off at times by Turki’s takes, which seem more like folly to folks taking the time to answer social media in the comments section than was the case at the start of the year. Promising packaging but under-delivering on the action entertainment front? Folks were hopeful then, but cynicism, old standby, is back to boxing. Or, in my silo, and I share it with plenty of other folks who sigh at noticing patterns re-emerge.

“Didn’t make sense to have the event in Times Square and then have 300 people watch it,” Arum said. “You pi--ed off more people than you pleased.” But…Bob is not the flamethrower from the ’70s and ’80s, when him and King were hammer and tong. “I’m not gonna condemn Turki. He’s bringing big money to the table.”

The market is a tricky one, Arum continued. “If you want to see your investment, get the lion’s share back and then some, it can be a dubious thing. Usyk-Fury 2, the amount spent versus returned, it’s ridiculous. I don’t care how much oil you got coming out of the ground; it’s not sustainable.”

Yes, the period of transition and outlook is a bit opaque for all pro boxing, I offer.

Arum Points Out Storm Clouds Over UFC

Speaking of someone who may or may not loom large in pro boxings’ space…Dana White, Arum’s rival of sorts. They have for two decades periodically crossed swords with in the media chops busting.

I thought that by now, White and his “TurKO” venture would have solidified. That has not been the case, with uncertainty attached to what had been pitched as a Fight of the Century face-off, Canelo Alvarez versus Terence Crawford. Arum weighed in: “UFC and Dana have further problems media hasn’t really picked up, antitrust cases. So when the purses these boxers get, that’s more than the UFC fighters get, and that will stir the pot and trouble them, I think.”

Arum A Mellowed Man

Fighters, athletes, and performers have a degree of leverage, the ones at the top tier, than in the past. Arum has been superb at responding to that, not with frustration but acceptance. His patience level with this era’s A siders being prone to be safety first, purse saving, little volume stink-outs surpassed mine.

“But the A-sides have always had the big leverage, Leonard, Hagler, Hearns…nobody is or was paying to see Bob Arum fight,” the promoter said. OK, sure..but those guys you mention NEVER threw 23 or 14 punches a round, like the new crew, I responded.

OK, Arum allowed, “You had fighters with a different style, now sometimes not as crowd-pleasing.”

I didn’t say this aloud, but that right there is of import, in the context of Top Rank looking for platform home or homes. We have not been getting thrillers from our A-side bold facers. Canelo and Crawford rarely fighting, go down the list, Haney, etc…this ain’t a Golden Era. Yep, thank God we got the Inoues and Bams to keep it from being bleaker. That ain’t on the promoter; that is on the caliber of the talent.

Lovee Serving Breakfast and Wisdom

Arum is not prone to bleak, to my view. Toward the end of the convo, I hit him again about what “the new deal” might look like. “We did 30, I think, a year. I think the new deal will be up to 40 events, so three outlets, more activity,” he said, sounding positive.

And will we see tweaks and adaptations for the age we live in? He paused. One one thousand, two… I heard a voice, not his. It was Lovees.’

“Better,” she said, that’s what we’re aiming for.

I laughed and said, “Hello Lovee,” and Bob I think chuckled. “We’re always looking to improve,” he told FightsATW. “So we’ll be doing publicity with social media more. I look forward to what comes, and I’m mindful and thankful for the fruitful last eight years with ESPN.”

Yes, Bob, I said, “it was a good marriage! Like you and Lovee, I guess.”

“Yeah,” he said, “but me and Lovee are still married!”