Bob Arum and Top Rank: Boxing’s Standard Bearer
Legendary promoter Bob Arum continues to keep his imprint on the sport of boxing with moves that invite more fans wanting to be apart of it.
Top Rank’s head honcho has been able to maintain a presence for nearly five decades! He has promoted classic fights, as well as countless Hall of Fame fighters and their best moments.
Here, we’ll reflect back on several reason on why he is where he is today.
SMART MOVES
Top Rank was once part of the juggernaut HBO platform. They would see the writing on the wall when the network began shifting most of it’s revenue away from boxing.
The promotional company looked to reconnect with ESPN amid the changing landscape. In the past, both organizations enjoyed a good working relationship.
Additionally, considering reports of the global sports network looking to expand, this was perfect timing.
Then came along the emergence of streaming, which brought along the popular ESPN+ app. The app delivered an affordable way of providing multiple types of boxing content.
From reliving historical fights to viewing some of the bigger match-ups from all over the world on a mobile device, helped keep fans close to the action wherever they go.
LOOKING ABROAD
Top Rank has always been able to tap into other cultures, giving fans a broader view of boxing from all over the world.
They created stars from not only the United States, but from places like Puerto Rico, Mexico, Philippines and Ukraine. This added to the company’s continued longevity over the course of time.
Furthermore, they would team up with Queensbury Promotions CEO Frank Warren and MTK Global, expanding into the U.K market. This move gave fans a chance to see fighters from around the world and future stars of the sport.
This would be evident when on July 13. For the first time on ESPN, the boxing community was able to see a domestic level British heavyweight title fight that provided a glimpse of Daniel Dubois.
Dubois has many pundits excited about the future of the heavyweight division. Also, let’s not overlook the addition of Japanese sensation IBF bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue.
The man called “Monster” is on course to win the World Boxing Super Series tournament that will further increase his growing popularity.
PROMOTING THE YOUTH
This part of the equation is extremely important. As time passes, everything moves on and keeping fresh young talent in the sport is a must for continued success. Understanding that key factor is the ultimate reason why this organization has been able to run like a perfectly fine-tuned machine.
There’s no debate that the 87-year old promoter from New York knows how to promote young fighters when beginning their careers. If you were to try writing down all the recognizable names over the years he did this for, you would run out of ink!
Some of the greatest Hall of Fame fighters that ever lived fought under the Top Rank banner.
Keeping with tradition, we have fighters like WBO champions Terence Crawford, Oscar Valdez and Vasiliy Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez, Shakur Stevenson, Ryan Burnett and Michael Conlan to name a few.
CONCLUSION
Even with rising competition over the years, Top Rank has always been able to figure out ways to keep fans coming. It’s not to say the organization isn’t without their share of criticism, such as making loads of sequel fights, marinating fights and making double standard decisions at times.
Regardless of the mentioned faults, Top rank is still one of the standard bearers for the sport and the light doesn’t appear to be dimming anytime soon.
By: Garrisson Bland
