Bob Arum Not Bothered Over Triller Winning the Purse Bid for Teofimo Lopez v George Kambosos
Eyebrows were raised on February 25 when Triller won the purse bid for the match between unified IBF/WBA ‘Super’/WBO World Lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) and IBF/WBO 135 mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr (19-0, 10 KOs). The social networking service bid $6 million for the fight. They took advantage of Lopez and his promoter, Bob Arum, not agreeing on a purse.
Arum officially put in a bid of $2.3 million, but he ultimately distanced himself from the situation. He feels that the fight was not high-profile enough to put up a significant amount of bread.
After the official announcement, the Top Rank promotions CEO spoke to Ring Magazine. While surprised by the final numbers, he is not stressed over the situation. There is no beef with anyone involved.
“Everyone’s happy, though the bid being the size it was, was pretty crazy. That fight isn’t worth anywhere like that. Everyone’s a winner – the fighters, Lou DiBella, Top Rank.”
A NOD TO TRILLER
Triller made moves when they promoted the November 2020 pay-per-view exhibition between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones. It went off without any hiccups. The event pulled nearly 800,000 pay-per-view buys. Now with them acquiring the rights to Lopez-Kambosos, it is further evidence they want to become a serious player in boxing.
Asked about Triller picking up the fight, Arum applauds them for making a bold move.
“I give it to them. If they are successful with this, this app, with a young audience, they can do a Teofimo fight and then he comes back to ESPN, on PPV or otherwise, with an enhanced fan base.”
Arum considers this a one-off. Despite the disagreements and not being the promoter of record for the fight with Kambosos, he holds the cards.
Lopez is still under contract with Top Rank at the end of the day. He is banking on the 23-year-old from Brooklyn taking care of business, then coming together and making it happen in the future. It is just part of the game that he is not losing much sleep about.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
