Bob Arum says promoters are working together to bring boxing back

Bob Arum has been around the boxing game for a long time and been on one side or the other of a lot of long-held grudges, “Cold Wars,” and rivalries with fellow promoters over the decades.

But Arum tells Sky Sports that in the face the coronavirus pandemic, boxing promoters are keeping in touch with one another and looking to work together to get the sport back on track safely.

“We talk to Eddie Hearn regularly. They are also working to bring boxing back in a responsible way. We consult with Premier Boxing Champions, who are planning to reopen in July with no audiences,” Arum told Sky.

It’s no secret that Arum and Eddie Hearn don’t always get along, but the two have worked together without much trouble. Arum and PBC have had a lot of issues over the years, but that relationship seems to be thawing, and this situation is putting everyone in a totally new and unusual position, too.

“Everybody is being cooperative, everybody is working together and nobody is jockeying for position, as is the usual case in boxing,” Arum added.

Arum also noted that promoters without TV deals “are out of luck,” but said he plans to work with their fighters, too. It was recently noted that smaller level boxing shows will be the longest and hardest hit of everyone in boxing, because their shows rely far more on gate receipts than those of promoters who have big TV contracts, as Top Rank do with ESPN, or Matchroom and Golden Boy with DAZN, or PBC with FOX and Showtime.

Arum has said that Top Rank plan to return in June, and as he noted Hearn is planning to get things running in July, as are PBC, as are Golden Boy. Shows are looking like they’ll go ahead this summer without spectators, in short, and hopefully everything will go smoothly enough that we’ll at least have some boxing out there, done in a safe manner, with no bad outcomes.