Top Rank promoter Bob Arum had no problems in publicly haranguing MGM Grand President Richard Sturm at
the final press conference for this weekend’s fight (Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley II) over the signage for the
May 3rd card at the same venue, prominently featuring Floyd
Mayweather Jr. and his upcoming bout against Marcos Maidana (yahoo.com/-rant-00052).
Yeah, Hurricane Bob was a Category 5. But the bottom line is he absolutely has
a point here. The MGM Grand is basically a promotional partner this weekend but
are they really acting as such (or in good faith) by marketing an archrival’s
card that takes place in three weeks? And when Alvarez-Angulo took place last month
in the same venue, there weren't any Pacquiao-Bradley promotional materials to
be found on the premises.
With how Arum reacted, you can bet Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer
would have felt the same way - and rightfully so.
But perhaps Arum is also feeling a bit frustrated by the fact that tickets are
to be had all over for Saturday night’s event (http://www.tiqiq.com/tickets/manny-pacquiao-vs-timothy-bradley/).
Maybe the smaller arena of the Mandalay Bay would have been more ideal for this
rematch.
Now, the question is: Does Arum now put a Venetian logo in the center of the
ring on Saturday night (not that I want to give him any ideas or anything)?
SOE
My latest
contribution towww.SportsOnEarth.comon how Manny Pacquiao is fighting to
retain his pay-per-view status and his market value this weekend versus Tim
Bradley:
Look for Edwin Rodriguez (who’s owed an HBO fight for getting shutout against Andre Ward in November) to appear on the network’s May 24th card. Marcus Johnson is being discussed seriously as his dance partner...How ‘bout Joshua Clottey? There is life!...The Angels seemed cursed; don't they?...See everyone in Las Vegas…I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing, where you can discuss our content with Maxboxing readers as well as chime in via our fully interactive article comments sections.
