60 years in the unpredictable world that is the fight game is simply amazing.
A recent media release by Las Vegas-based promotional legends Top Rank Boxing underscored just what an amazing run the company has had.
Started by Bob Arum in the 1960s, the former Harvard-educated New York-based tax lawyer came into the sport after overseeing the proceeds from the Floyd Patterson-Sonny Liston fight.
Jump ahead a few years, and Arum, now in private practice, meets legend Muhammad Ali. “The Greatest” was a vocal and passionate advocate for peace and racial harmony, long before it was woke or hip.
Ali put it all on the line. He stood up and held firm when he had everything to lose and nothing to gain. He was willing to wage his career and public reputation to stand up for what he thought was right.
Think about that – a highly visible, African-American who was openly critical of his government and its military stance, in the politically charged 1960’s. And that is who Bob chose to align himself with for his debut promo gig.
Clearly, Arum was as tough as many of the fighters he would go on to promote.
But, Ali was having trouble resurrecting his career and finding a city to host his comeback in his own country after being an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War.
Arum was well-dressed, very intelligent, and highly educated. But he was very much Ali-like in his individuality, and he stepped in to promote the fight. He couldn’t find a willing dance partner in the U.S.A., so he took the fight up north to Canada. He kicked off his promotional career in (legendary National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs owner) Harold Ballard’s famous arena, Maple Leaf Gardens, in Toronto, Canada. Ali would face Toronto resident and legendary tough guy George Chuvalo.
Arum, who knew little of the sport or promoting fights at that time, would go on to promote 27 more Ali bouts (and well over 2000 other cards) and build a legendary promotional firm that is still going strong today.
Aligning with Ali and his political stance at that time, walking away from a very successful and lucrative legal career and forging into the very unpredictable world that is professional boxing, says everything about what a ground-breaking maverick Arum is.
Probably one of the key components to Arum’s longevity and success is his ability to understand the changing delivery model of sports and entertainment and how it is accessed by newer and younger audiences as technology changes.
Promotion and delivery of content is vastly different now in all areas of sports entertainment. If you don’t adapt and change, you become dated, irrelevant, and then gone.
For a man who started in the Kennedy era, now in his 90’s, Arum is as current and knowledgeable of the ever-evolving, tech-savvy era his sport exists in as anyone.
Arum worked his way to the very top in an unforgiving sport. This highlights his unique intelligence, passion for business and the sport, and his ability to connect to and understand a lifetime’s cast of characters that are professional fighters.
If I were to list the incredible events and fighters that Arum has worked with, this would turn into a book, not an article. Arum has promoted an endless list of Hall of Fame fighters, including Ali, Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Donald Curry, and Miguel Cotto, among many, many others, too numerous to mention.
As Arum, who often keeps a pace and work schedule that would KO men half his age, said recently, “60 years is a long time. I’ve met some fabulous people and it’s been a great adventure”.
An amazing life and career that is still going strong.
Happy 60th, Bob Arum and Top Rank.