One stood holding a glass of brandy, wearing a blue denim jacket with pictures of him embedded on it, diamond crosses hanging from his neck. The other looked as if he had just walked out of a Golden Sachs meeting wearing a blue suit and tie.
One could be heard throughout the room, boasting loudly about how his fighter was going to “woop” the other as a pack of reporters huddled around.
The other spoke so lowly reporters had to stand closely to hear the promoter talk about the state of boxing.
Don King and Bob Arum are not likely business partners. Arum, a Harvard graduate who looks every bit the part, is on another end of the spectrum compared to the flamboyant, boisterous and confident King, who once said he graduated from the “University of Ghetto.”
The two were promoting a March 12 fight card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight features 37-year-old former world champion Ricardo Mayorga of Managua, Nicaragua, against WBA junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico.
Arum, the Top Rank Promotions CEO, represents Cotto while King represents Mayorga.
Despite King and Arum’s rivalry in the past, they are two business men burying their egos to sell a fight.
“We don’t play nice but we respect each other,” said Arum. ” We talk on the phone. We’re two old cogs who reminisce. I take my hat off to him. He knows how to sell a fight.”
King said he enjoys the reconnection with Arum but admits they are not from the same seed.
“I call him lonesome Bob,” said King. “He didn’t mingle too much with people. I’m the kind to ingratiate myself to everyone. But Bob is mellowing now and extending his hand because he has an opportunity for success. I am so happy for him.”
Arum’s and King’s promotional history dates back over 40 years. Their biggest fight was Muhammad Ali’s 14th-round knockout of Joe Frazier in the “Thrilla in Manila” in 1975. The last fight they promoted was in April 2006.
In the past they have disagreed on everything from racial issues to simply being competitive. In 2000, King called Arum a “rat fink” for admitting during a federal trial that he bribed the International Boxing Federation president in order to gain a more favorable rating for one of his fighters.
During the press conference Wednesday, King was taking jabs, while Arum played along. They both knew their roles.
After Mayorga went on a rant about how he would knock Cotto out in four rounds, King got up and dared Arum to get his fighter, Cotto, to fire back. “Come on Bob, get your man,” King said with his infamous laugh.
Arum got up like a calm politician and said Cotto and his camp weren’t worried.
“I don’t know about that,” King interjected. “Don’t play lawyer now, Bob. Get Miguel [Cotto] up there.”