by Saudi Arabia is becoming boxing’s “new Las Vegas” and the top destination for heavyweight fights, according to legendary promoter Bob Arum.
Arum has played a key role in the sport for six decades, starting with his relationship with Muhammad Ali and continuing to Tyson Fury in the current era.
Arum, who turned 92 last week, says he believes the blue-ribbon heavyweight division is “as strong as it’s ever been” because of Saudi Arabia’s growing interest and influence. He says the latest development in the sport, including a card in Riyadh on Saturday night featuring 10 of the top 15 heavyweights in the world – including Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder – is a welcome revolution.
Arum started working in 1961 as a newly sworn-in Harvard graduate lawyer with the US attorney’s office and was asked by Robert Kennedy to “organize the seizure of all the funds from the fight between Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson”. He has since worked in the boxing era starting with heavyweight champion Liston, through the golden era of Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis and beyond.
Each period brought problems and changes in boxing, especially in the way fans treated the fights. So, does Arum see Saudi Arabia developing as Las Vegas once did?
“It’s beyond my pay grade whether they’ll have casinos in Riyadh,” says Arum. “I would have no idea, but I am happy to mention Vegas, because in the seventies and especially in the eighties, Vegas was made largely because of the powers that be, the money was put up – very high at the time – to get. these big fights there, with Ali, Mike Tyson and so on, to attract people and attract everyone’s attention there.
“Las Vegas didn’t have a single professional sports franchise at that point, and it worked. And I really believe that what’s happening now in Riyadh will have the same impact – attracting these big events and bringing all these great fighters to perform. What they want to achieve is to make Saudi Arabia, and Riyadh specifically, the sports and entertainment capital of the world.”
Arum, however, denies that one era is better than another and celebrates today’s abundant talent.
“As a veteran, I have so much emotion about the Ali era and what we did during that period. That being said, heavyweight boxing is probably more vibrant now than it has been in a long time,” says Arum. “We’ve got so many great heavyweights from all over the world, and the competition between them should be great and this December 23 card in Riyadh is fantastic – featuring many of the best heavyweights against each other.
“That continues on February 17th when, God willing, there will be an undisputed heavyweight champion [when Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk meet for all the heavyweight titles, in Saudi Arabia, the first undisputed title fight for 25 years]. So it’s not really fair to compare it to the Ali era, but we’re in a great position for heavyweight boxing.”
The key right now, says Arum, is time and passion for boxing in Saudi Arabia. “His Excellency Turki Al-Sheikh, who is a huge boxing fan and is running things, decides how much each fighter is worth, and it’s so far above what the fighters would make as a percentage of pay per very visual that determines the market.
“It’s a lot easier to make those fights because you don’t spend endless time negotiating the minutiae because every fighter, for example Fury and Usyk, are getting purses that they wouldn’t have dreamed of two or three years ago.”
Not only is Joshua and Wilder on the same card the catalyst for change, but also rival promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn working together.
“Well, again, when there’s real money, all these desires that were so important and successful suddenly dissipate, because all parties want to be involved in the proceedings because that’s the thing the most profitable they can do.”
Arum reiterated that boxing has always been as much a business as it has been a sport. “That’s why they call it professional sports. Professional means that the athletes, regardless of the sport they are in, are paid for what they do, whether it is American football, basketball or soccer, those sports are all businesses. The participants make money, sometimes life-changing money.”
Arum’s understanding of the world of boxing – from politics, to the highs and lows of the past 60 years – means his opinion is worth listening to in a strong position.
“Thanks to the great talent in the division – including Fury and Usyk and thanks to the interest of His Excellency Turki Al-Sheikh and the Saudi entertainment fund – heavyweight boxing has never been as strong as it is now,” says Arum .
“Fights that could not be done because the fighters were giving up this percentage and that percentage, that is no longer the case. We could be entering another golden age with all the fights we wanted.
“They’re smart people, so I think that’s going to get easier as we go forward if this continues to make big fights in the heavyweight division and whatever other divisions in boxing that the Saudi fund is interested in having get involved.”
“Day of Reckoning” is on Saturday, part of the Riyadh season and will be available live on TNT Sports Box Office and DAZN
