Bob Arum, Other People’s Money,
and Boxing’s Coming Reality Check
Part One of a Four-Part Series
By William Trillo
The O’Shaquie Foster–Emanuel Navarrete fight in Texas over the weekend was a good one, although not quite the Fight of the Year candidate some had anticipated. Nevertheless, it was a step in the right direction. A meaningful championship unification bout, presented on DAZN without an additional pay-per-view charge, was something boxing fans could appreciate. That it was a Top Rank promotion was hardly a coincidence.
But some of the weekend’s most interesting punches weren’t thrown inside the ring.
While in Texas, longtime promoter Bob Arum sat down with members of the boxing media before the fight and offered a few minutes of commentary on Zuffa Boxing, Shakur Stevenson, and the increasingly uncertain economics of a sport that has grown accustomed to spending enormous amounts of somebody else’s money.
It was an interview worth paying attention to, not because Arum said something particularly surprising, but because he said something that too many people in boxing would rather ignore.
The Money Isn’t Necessarily Going to Be There Forever
Arum has been promoting fights for nearly six decades. During that time, he has watched countless promoters, investors, and self-proclaimed visionaries arrive with grand promises of revolutionizing boxing. Some made a significant impact. Others discovered that making promises is considerably easier than making money. Many eventually disappeared, while Arum kept right on promoting fights.
So, when the veteran promoter began discussing Zuffa’s reliance on Saudi-backed financing and the reported $15 million figure associated with Stevenson, his observations deserved more than a passing glance.
Arum was not particularly interested in dressing up his message.
“The truth is Zuffa Boxing thought that they would do great things using OPM, “other people’s money,” he told the assembled reporters.
There it was. Three words that cut through much of the promotional hype surrounding boxing’s latest supposed revolution.
Other. People’s. Money.
Arum’s contention was straightforward. It is one thing to put on fights when someone else is willing to finance the operation and absorb the potential losses. It is quite another to build a sustainable promotional business when the money must come from the business itself.
He went further, questioning whether Zuffa could afford the kind of purses it had been discussing if the Saudi money it had anticipated was no longer available at the same level.
“It’s this cold, hard business,” Arum said.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the part of the conversation that deserves some serious attention.
Boxing has seen this movie before. New money arrives, a new power broker promises to change everything, and suddenly the old rules of business supposedly no longer apply. Fighters hear enormous purse figures, promoters make ambitious plans, and everybody starts acting as though the financial resources behind the operation are limitless.
Until somebody has to pay the bill.
Arum’s comments raise a fundamental question about Zuffa Boxing and the ambitions of Dana White. Is Zuffa building a promotional business that can sustain itself, or has access to outside capital created the appearance of a financial model that has yet to prove its long-term viability?
Zuffa arrived in boxing with a considerable profile and the promise of doing things differently. But a big name, a powerful corporate structure, and the ability to offer enormous purses do not automatically translate into a successful boxing business. Eventually, the numbers have to work.
And if the financial landscape is changing, as Arum believes it is, the consequences could extend well beyond one promotional company or one fighter’s contract.
That is why this interview caught my attention. Arum wasn’t simply talking about a disagreement over a purse. He was talking about the economics of a sport that has become increasingly dependent on outside money to make its biggest events happen.
For anyone who cares about boxing’s future, that should be enough to stop and listen.
This conversation deserves more than a few minutes of video and a passing mention on social media.
Over the next four installments of Billy’s Boxing Blog, we’ll examine the issues Arum raised, take a hard look at Zuffa Boxing and Shakur Stevenson, and consider whether boxing is approaching a financial reset that could fundamentally change the way the sport does business. No sacred cows, no promotional talking points, and no guarantee that everyone will like what they read. Just an honest look at where boxing stands and where it may be headed.
Because if Arum is right about the money, the consequences could be significant. And if Zuffa truly intends to change boxing, it is going to have to demonstrate that its business model can survive without relying on an endless supply of somebody else’s cash.
In Part Two of our four-part series, we’ll take a closer look at Zuffa Boxing and Dana White. The promises have been made, the ambitions have been advertised, and the money has helped make a splash. Now comes the uncomfortable question: can Zuffa pay its own way, or was this boxing revolution always dependent on somebody else picking up the tab?
