Bob Arum first promoted Muhammad Ali in 1966.
The man formerly known as Cassius Clay had just beaten Sonny Liston twice and followed up with a win over Floyd Patterson. He defend his heavyweight belts against George Chuvalo under the promotion of Arum and the pair went on to work together for 27 more main events.
During the same month of the Chuvalo win, Ali refused the draft for the US armed forces and was banned from boxing in any state and his ability to travel was revoked. He sat out from ’67 until ’70, missing peak sporting years.
He continued to be an outspoken advocate for humanitarian causes, civil rights and religious freedom – and it’s this Arum admired most about him.
Arum likened Manny Pacquiao, at the time of his retirement in 2021, to Ali in an interview with World Boxing News, saying ‘nobody else comes close’ to the heavyweight legend’s influence outside of the ropes.
“When you get somebody like Manny Pacquiao, as great a fighter as he was, you don’t focus on [his boxing]. The focus is on his other attributes. What a wonderful, caring human being he is. It’s almost like [Muhammad] Ali. When people talk to me about Ali, they talk about his speed, and this and that, and I really begin to tune them out. For me, Ali means so much more. Same thing with Pacquiao. I don’t want to demean what he accomplished in the ring because it was great, but for me, that’s already faded away.”
The Filipino fighting sensation is one of the best boxers the sport has seen, winning championships across four decades in eight divisions and setting many more records whilst doing so, plenty of which came under Arum’s Top Rank banner.
Pacquiao’s politcal career first began back in 2007 and, two years later, he was elected to the House of Representatives 15th Congress of the Philippines. He would become a senator in 2016 but fall short in a 2022 presidential bid – campaigning on solving corruption and nationwide housing projects for the poor – that came after Arum’s kind words.
He is now considering a comeback to the sport of boxing after doing the rounds on the exhibition circuit. His target – WBC Champion Mario Barrios – is keen on the challenge, but Pacquiao’s team say it must happen before December this year as he has more political plans for 2025.
