Bob Arum embarrasses boxing and its fans
by Scott Christ on Sep 11, 2009 5:02 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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Since Dana White throwing a bitchy little verbal slap at the Mayweather-Marquez fight was enough to raise my ire, let me tell you something: This is a lot worse. Bob Arum has thoughts, consarnit, like Floyd Mayweather is a pansy and MMA is "guys rolling around like homosexuals on the ground," and its fans are "a bunch of skinhead white guys."
This is an embarrassment to boxing, its fans, and it should in some ways be condemnation of Arum as a human being. What Dana White did was catty, and he's had worse offenses in the past, but Arum's weird gay-bashing rant here -- while simultaneously accusing fans of MMA of being "skinheads" -- goes way too far.
Bob Arum is a 77-year old man. He's a good businessman and a good boxing promoter, if you believe there's any such thing as the latter. I'm going to generalize -- since hey, why not? -- and assume the elderly, cantankerous Arum isn't the world's biggest fan of gay rights. JUST A GUESS. Call me crazy. And I'm not an overly PC guy, but this is ignorant and, frankly, it's shameful. Arum sounds like every stupid ass man-child that you can find on every boxing (and MMA, to be fair) board on the internet. It's detestable, it's ugly, and it's dumb. It's stupid on every single level.
If you don't like MMA, great, fine, but what is this obsession with the alleged "rolling around" and how "gay" it is? "That's gay and they roll around." Thanks for the insight, genius.
If boxing were a mainstream sport -- and guys like Bob Arum are a big reason it's not -- this comment would not fly. Since he's operating in a niche business, he'll get away with it, life will go on, and people will act like this is an acceptable way for a man to behave. It's not. Arum is an idiot. Simple as that.
Here's the full video, courtesy Fanhouse and interviewer Ariel Helwani:
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On a less important note, what I've expected also seems clear: Bob Arum isn't going to let Manny Pacquiao fight Floyd Mayweather. The Arum-Mayweather grudge is very real. For people that think that fight is happening in 2010 if both win in 2009, don't hold your breath. You're more likely to see either man fight Shane Mosley or even rematch Ricky Hatton.
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Not impressed... it is not as good as his other quote...
“Yesterday I was lying, today I’m telling the truth”
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
i’m on the complete outer edge of PC, so i’m not in an uproar about this but bob arum is a douche, and kudos to that reporter for handling that with marvelous class.
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Sep 11, 2009 5:25 PM EDT reply actions
Stereotyping isn’t good but lets be honest… both Arum and White don’t care what they say when they want to put down each other sports.
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
ok look genuine hate bashing is not cool, but i’m pretty lenient with things like this. bob probably does have negative feelings toward gay people, but i view this as a monster hyperbole.
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Sep 11, 2009 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree brother...I too am on the "outer edge of PC" but either way you cut it...
Arum is a shmuck who won’t be around too much longer. The young promoters will be taking over soon.
by SmittytheCutman on Sep 11, 2009 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions
oh yeah
i wasn’t defending bob, i was just merely saying that this language doesn’t offend me, and frankly i talk like that with my friends but obv without malice behind it. gonna paraphrase the great george carlin here but, “words aren’t bad, its the assholes (bob) who say em that are”. regardless bob is a respected (is he?) man in his sport, so naturally he shouldn’t be saying stuff like this.
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Sep 12, 2009 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions
I like boxing and I’m a jew
Ariel is so good at his job.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Sep 11, 2009 9:14 PM EDT reply actions
Don't let it get to you
Most of the MMA guys I know don’t take Arum as a representative of most boxing fans; it’s not quite as bad as you made it out to be.
Still, that was a horrible thing for Bob to say, what the hell was he thinking?!
You BLH guys are still cool
This war of words is damaging the sports a lot.
All these guys want is short term success but you have to remember most PPV’s are bought by 18-24 year olds who just want to be cool and watch the new “ill shit”.
These guys are the most fickle morons on the planet they will move onto something new within a few years.
It’s like reality TV shows. They get short term success but when the appeal wears off the network is back at square one. These last few years the way MMA has been promoted pretty much ensures when the “extreme, ultimate bloodsport” factor wears off all those pubescent little shits will stop buying PPV’s.
Boxing experienced the same thing when Don King marketed Mike Tyson as a killer. When Mike retired those pubescent asswipes moved on. The UFC is going to fall and fall very hard and end up in the same place as boxing is now if Dana White doesn’t try to build a respectable sport that appeals to a wider demographic and doesn’t rely on being the new ill shit for young morons.
We need better mentalities in both sports. Lets not forget the WWF at its peak was bigger than boxing and MMA combined and was a true genuine worldwide sport on a scale that was completely and utterly staggering.
The WWF on a worldwide basis used to get several times as many views as the Superbowl and is probably the biggest worldwide sport in American history. The WWF fell hard because they sold out for quick gains. These guys are destroying the integrity of their own respective sports so they can appeal to hard head idiots who respond to derogatory bullshit like this.
Um, Deadspin made a great point in their post about this...
why was Arum even having a press conference at Yankee Stadium for the fight taking place in Vegas? A very good example of what is wrong with boxing promotion.
I used to work with an old man that told me. Son, every workplace has a dumbass, if you don't have one where you work, then I'm afraid you're it.
why was Arum even having a press conference at Yankee Stadium for the fight taking place in Vegas?
To drum up interest in the very massive and important New York market for PPV sales. It’s not like Las Vegas is a major hub outside of the fact that the casinos pay a lot of money to host fights. Multi-city press tours are nothing new (they’re quite standard, and they must work to some degree, because they keep doing them), and Arum also does have the half-crazy idea that he can get boxing back in Yankee Stadium.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 12, 2009 6:02 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Trying to be nice, but that was a ignorant post...
Honestly you are going to dead-spin for commentary? They are beyond stupid…
FYI, You make press tours across the country to gather up interest for the fight.
I am pretty sure that whatever idiot wrote that forgot that there are double the amount of PRs(800,000 and prolly more, Hispanics don’t like to get counted…lol) in New York than in San Juan.
It is called marketing… You get people interested in the fight. You touch base with your fanbase…
I hope you are not gullible enough to believe all that people who go to Vegas shows are locals…
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
You are correct about promoting, of course,
but your tone here is unnecessarily harsh, imo.
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
Well I tired… but not enough it appears…
Sorry… I don’t don’t hold the deadspin for a high regard.
Lets just say this… I rather read Chris Mannix…that the dribble that gets posted there…
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
arum is a jew as well, right?
the kid interviewer was excellent, hats off to that guy for maneuvering arum around like that. it is certainly a generational thing in everything arum said. i’m not saying every old guy north of say 65 yrs old harbors such opinions bu come on lads we’ve heard it all before from our ‘elders’ – in nay case, given his relativiely high profile media position i thought it was a poor choice of words from arum.
one thing though, how can he say ‘the blacks’ don’t buy into MMA ppv? i’d imagine the technology allows for non-u.s.a hits to be identified, but how does ppv determine each individual U.S.A household’s ethnic make up?!!! BIZARRE. THANKS LADS/CLOUGHIE
There are only a handful of major black MMA fighters, and almost no Mexicans, so I assume this is where he’s coming from. Just like how Floyd said whites suck at boxing so they “started” MMA. Floyd and Bob should really stop sniping, they’re equally fucking stupid and should go get a beer at one of Floyd’s favorite titty clubs sometime.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 12, 2009 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions
Honestly, I bet Arum feels like he was a self-righteous fellow for using the word “homosexual” instead of something harsher. He probably thought he WAS being sensitive. Seriously.
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
by Matt Miller on Sep 12, 2009 1:03 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
SC -
very well put, dude. i think floyd favors spearmint rhino? when hatton was on his roll at the start of his 3 fight deal with hbo i think him and his boys went in there trying to find him one night.
Mr. Arum Is Right in a Sense...
Over the years, I’ve been to approximately 20 or so MMA events. If you’re a hardcore mixed martial arts fan who frequents some of the shows put on by the smaller promotions, you cannot disagree with the fact that these shows are heavily (and I mean heavily) attended by skinheads and other white supremacist groups.
Society considers me a member of a ‘minority’ group; but I could give a rats ass about their views—let freedom ring; with that said, from a perception and marketing standpoint, while these folks are only a minority of the fans in attendance, their presence is so loud and effective at filling a void, you often fail to notice anything else than them. Mr. Arum’s words have not fallen on deaf ears.
No
This really is not true in any sense. I’ve attended close to 50 MMA shows and this post is simply not reflective of reality. Maybe it’s your particular corner of the country or something, but this is not true in the least bit about MMA fans in general.
Jeremiah Johnson
Contributor
FightMatrix.com
by Jeremiah Johnson. on Sep 14, 2009 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions
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