In the immediate aftermath of Yuriorkis Gamboa’s impressive dispatching of Jorge Solis last weekend in Atlantic City, fellow featherweight standout Juan Manuel Lopez (who faces Orlando Salido on April 16th in Puerto Rico) was brought into the ring for a photo-op. The mere sight of these two fighters had boxing fans salivating at the thought of them meeting under much less friendlier circumstances. There’s no doubt that a bout between these two is one of the very best fights that can be made in boxing.
But the man who promotes both of them, Bob Arum, doesn’t believe it makes the best business sense to consummate, right now.
"Alright, look; you gotta understand," said the veteran promoter on Tuesday afternoon, from his offices in Las Vegas, "it’s a potentially very big fight and there’s two ways you can do the fight: one, on premium television or two, on pay-per-view. So now, let’s look at premium television; it’s a big fight- they’ve got to pay me. Somebody has to step up to the plate and pay me the same money that they paid for [Tim] Bradley-[Devon] Alexander or Bernard Hopkins and [Jean] Pascal. I’m not doing that fight for less than $3 million. Is it because I’m greedy? No, because I give all of that money to the fighters and aren’t the fighters entitled to at least a million-and-a-half apiece?
"So if because they’re smaller guys, the premium networks can’t step up with that kind of money, OK, so now it’s up to me, added Arum. “I have to spend the money to do it on pay-per-view and I...am....the....sole....determinator- the sole determinator- as to when I can do it for that kind of money and not only get my money back but make a profit. It’s as simple as that. Got nothing to do with ’milking’ or anything like that. Let HBO or Showtime- let somebody- show me $3 million and they got a fight."
This may rub some the wrong way, the blunt way Arum has brought in the bottom line, but professional boxing, if anything, is a bottom line business. The great thing about Arum is that he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. The bad thing about Arum is that he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. If you have the dime, he’ll have the time to do Gamboa-Lopez immediately. If not, he’ll do it of his own volition.
Arum goes all Rod Tidwell in reiterating, "Show me the money. Or if nobody is going to show me the money and it’s now, ’Put up the money.’ I’m going to put up the money when it’s damn well ready for me to put up the money. It’s as simple as that. It’s not rocket science."
One of the issues that Arum might have is that Gamboa, for as gifted as he might be, is still anonymous to the general public and he’s much less of a draw than Lopez (who can always count on Puerto Rico to draw sizable gates). But Arum says, "We need to work on both profiles; only boxing people know them. Remember, two ways to go: premium television, it’s certainly ready for premium television if they’ll come up and pay the money, number one. I’m not asking for two fights for Sergiy Dzinziruk, I don’t do that. I’m not looking for comeback fights. Just pay me the f**king money and they get a fight. If they don’t want to do it- and that’s a decision they have to make in their own best interest, the two networks- then it’s a question of me putting up the money and I ain’t putting up the money until it’s damn well ready for me to put it up.
"Not anyone else is going to make that determination- except me- because then, it’s my money."
The January 29th bout between Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander was hailed by many as a significant fight because, well, nobody is really sure, except that it was hailed by many as such, despite the relative anonymity and inactivity of both participants coming into the contest. In the dreary setting of the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, Bradley defeated Alexander in a fight that failed to even come close to living up to expectations and in reality, was a flat-out dud in almost every aspect.
A fight that should’ve been cooked was instead microwaved at the behest of television packagers and a network.
"People get so carried away that they do anything to make a deal like they did with Alexander and Bradley and indeed, they could’ve waited a little bit and it probably would’ve been a bigger fight," Arum opined.
Over the course of time, Lopez, should he stay on course, will become the next big bona fide Puerto Rican star, taking the mantle for Miguel Cotto, who took it from Felix Trinidad and so on. What’s more problematic is Gamboa, who, like many of his Cuban compatriots, is having problems gaining a foothold with boxing fans in the States. However, he did take a positive step in not only putting on a dominant performance this past weekend but completely selling out (with the help of local draws Teon Kennedy and Jorge Diaz) the 3,000 seat Philips Ballroom.
"Now, the biggest step was Ken Condon (the Sports and Entertainment Consultant for Caesars AC) said that they wanted [Gamboa] back over the summer and we’re going to do it in the big hall, which were going to scale for 6-7,000 people," stated Arum. "That, to me, means that the guy has arrived because number one, he brought out the Cubans. I know the Cubans [come to] Union City but he brought Cubans to the fight. Now, you still have to do local guys and I’ll probably pair him up on a card with Mike Jones (who hails from Philadelphia) in a fight to bring it in but the next time, I’m pretty confident I can sell 6-7,000 tickets."
According to Arum, Gamboa’s next fight will be on the “Network of Champions.”
"HBO has a position on Gamboa, just like Showtime has on Lopez and HBO is going to bring him back, I believe, in August."
But the man who promotes both of them, Bob Arum, doesn’t believe it makes the best business sense to consummate, right now.
"Alright, look; you gotta understand," said the veteran promoter on Tuesday afternoon, from his offices in Las Vegas, "it’s a potentially very big fight and there’s two ways you can do the fight: one, on premium television or two, on pay-per-view. So now, let’s look at premium television; it’s a big fight- they’ve got to pay me. Somebody has to step up to the plate and pay me the same money that they paid for [Tim] Bradley-[Devon] Alexander or Bernard Hopkins and [Jean] Pascal. I’m not doing that fight for less than $3 million. Is it because I’m greedy? No, because I give all of that money to the fighters and aren’t the fighters entitled to at least a million-and-a-half apiece?
"So if because they’re smaller guys, the premium networks can’t step up with that kind of money, OK, so now it’s up to me, added Arum. “I have to spend the money to do it on pay-per-view and I...am....the....sole....determinator- the sole determinator- as to when I can do it for that kind of money and not only get my money back but make a profit. It’s as simple as that. Got nothing to do with ’milking’ or anything like that. Let HBO or Showtime- let somebody- show me $3 million and they got a fight."
This may rub some the wrong way, the blunt way Arum has brought in the bottom line, but professional boxing, if anything, is a bottom line business. The great thing about Arum is that he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. The bad thing about Arum is that he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks. If you have the dime, he’ll have the time to do Gamboa-Lopez immediately. If not, he’ll do it of his own volition.
Arum goes all Rod Tidwell in reiterating, "Show me the money. Or if nobody is going to show me the money and it’s now, ’Put up the money.’ I’m going to put up the money when it’s damn well ready for me to put up the money. It’s as simple as that. It’s not rocket science."
One of the issues that Arum might have is that Gamboa, for as gifted as he might be, is still anonymous to the general public and he’s much less of a draw than Lopez (who can always count on Puerto Rico to draw sizable gates). But Arum says, "We need to work on both profiles; only boxing people know them. Remember, two ways to go: premium television, it’s certainly ready for premium television if they’ll come up and pay the money, number one. I’m not asking for two fights for Sergiy Dzinziruk, I don’t do that. I’m not looking for comeback fights. Just pay me the f**king money and they get a fight. If they don’t want to do it- and that’s a decision they have to make in their own best interest, the two networks- then it’s a question of me putting up the money and I ain’t putting up the money until it’s damn well ready for me to put it up.
"Not anyone else is going to make that determination- except me- because then, it’s my money."
The January 29th bout between Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander was hailed by many as a significant fight because, well, nobody is really sure, except that it was hailed by many as such, despite the relative anonymity and inactivity of both participants coming into the contest. In the dreary setting of the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, Bradley defeated Alexander in a fight that failed to even come close to living up to expectations and in reality, was a flat-out dud in almost every aspect.
A fight that should’ve been cooked was instead microwaved at the behest of television packagers and a network.
"People get so carried away that they do anything to make a deal like they did with Alexander and Bradley and indeed, they could’ve waited a little bit and it probably would’ve been a bigger fight," Arum opined.
Over the course of time, Lopez, should he stay on course, will become the next big bona fide Puerto Rican star, taking the mantle for Miguel Cotto, who took it from Felix Trinidad and so on. What’s more problematic is Gamboa, who, like many of his Cuban compatriots, is having problems gaining a foothold with boxing fans in the States. However, he did take a positive step in not only putting on a dominant performance this past weekend but completely selling out (with the help of local draws Teon Kennedy and Jorge Diaz) the 3,000 seat Philips Ballroom.
"Now, the biggest step was Ken Condon (the Sports and Entertainment Consultant for Caesars AC) said that they wanted [Gamboa] back over the summer and we’re going to do it in the big hall, which were going to scale for 6-7,000 people," stated Arum. "That, to me, means that the guy has arrived because number one, he brought out the Cubans. I know the Cubans [come to] Union City but he brought Cubans to the fight. Now, you still have to do local guys and I’ll probably pair him up on a card with Mike Jones (who hails from Philadelphia) in a fight to bring it in but the next time, I’m pretty confident I can sell 6-7,000 tickets."
According to Arum, Gamboa’s next fight will be on the “Network of Champions.”
"HBO has a position on Gamboa, just like Showtime has on Lopez and HBO is going to bring him back, I believe, in August."
