Top Rank promotions is bind that connects both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather

Boxing promoters often get a bad rap, much like players’ agents do in Premier League football.

But they are a necessary evil, if you will. Without the likes of Bob Arum and the infamous Don King promoting and publicising, negotiating and financing, we wouldn’t have had such sporting spectacles as the Thrilla in Manila or the Rumble in the Jungle, and the greatest pugilists the sport has ever known might never have met in battle.

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Arum, an 83-year-old businessman who made his name as a successful lawyer in his home state of New York before setting up shop as a promoter in Las Vegas, is a figure every bit as divisive as King was in his pomp.

He has worked with and represented boxing royalty, most notably “The Greatest”, promoting Muhammad Ali during his most successful years in the 1970s.

He has been portrayed as a spiky character who carries a vendetta against those whom he perceives to have crossed him, famously refusing to do business with Oscar De La Hoya after the “Golden Boy” set up his own rival company in 2002.

But plenty of boxers have got rich working with Arum, the founder and chief executive of Top Rank promotions. None more so than Saturday’s two protagonists.

Floyd Mayweather Jr was with Top Rank from the start of his career until 2006, winning four world titles.

Mayweather exercised a provision in his contract to buy Arum out and become a promotional free agent in 2006, something that still rankles with Arum, and a cause of friction that many believe has delayed Saturday night’s showdown all these years.

Mayweather’s decision to hook up with the reclusive Al Haymon, another man Arum dislikes, no doubt played a part too. Still, it’s hard to argue splitting with Arum, from a financial perspective, has not worked out well for the man they call “Money”.

Manny Pacquiao is the stable’s prize fighter these days and Top Rank has successfully promoted the Filipino’s fights since 2005. During their association, Pacquiao has won seven titles and beaten some of the best fighters of his generation, and made a ton of money along the way.

sluckings@thenational.ae

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Top Rank promotions is bind that connects both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather

Plenty of boxers have got rich working with boxing promotoer Bob Arum, the founder and chief executive of Top Rank promotions. None more so than Saturday’s two protagonists, writes Steve Luckings.