How much is Bob Arum worth?
| Net Worth: | $350 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional lawyer |
| Date of Birth: | December 8, 1931 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.73 m |
About Bob Arum
Robert Arum is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a Las Vegas-based professional boxing promotion business. Arum worked as an attorney in the tax section of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York prior to becoming a boxing promoter.
His classmates at Erasmus Hall High School, New York University, and Harvard Law School—where he graduated with honors—were described as “snooty guys from the prep schools and the eating clubs”.
During the Kennedy administration, he worked as an attorney in the US Department of Justice and wasn’t really interested in boxing until 1965.
Arum joined the Wall Street law firm Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim & Ballon after the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy and his time working for Robert F. Kennedy’s Justice Department. There, he conducted research on the assassination for senior partner Louis Nizer, who wrote the foreword to the Warren Commission Report.
Hours after being charged with being the “mastermind” of a mortgage tax evasion conspiracy, Floyd Cramer committed suicide in 1963. Following this, Arum stated, “I knew then that I wasn’t made out to be a prosecutor.” Arum carried on practicing civil law until 1979, when he closed his firm.
When the Department of Justice tasked Arum in 1962 with seizing money from the Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson world heavyweight boxing title match, which took place on September 25, 1962, he ran into Lester M. Malitz, a pioneer of closed-circuit television (CCTV) and a former vice-president of Leo Burnett & Co.
Malitz organised the Terrell-Chuvalo fight in 1965, and he hired Arum to be his representative. Arum became a boxing promoter in 1966 as a result of a recommendation made by Jim Brown, who Arum had hired to announce the match for Malitz. In 2016, Brown recalled that Arum had watched a bout on television in 1965, stating that “Terell-Chuvalo was the first fight Arum ever saw, and he watched that from the television truck.” Muhammad Ali is credited by Arum with teaching him how to be a boxing promoter, while Brown is credited with bringing him to Ali.
Arum joined Ali’s promotion firm, Main Bout, as vice president and secretary. Lester Malitz’s son Mike held 20% of the business and rose to the position of vice president, just like Arum. Jim Brown was the company’s vice president in charge of publicity and owned 10% of the business. Arum reportedly stated that he “had never seen a boxing battle before the first fight I did with Ali,” alluding to the 1966 Muhammad Ali vs. George Chuvalo Toronto fight, when asked about his first live fight watching.
In the 1980s, Arum surpassed Don King as the sport’s main promoter. Arum arranged superfights between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns and Roberto Durán. In April 1986, Arum organized the Hagler-John Mugabi, Hearns-James Shuler doubleheader in Las Vegas. Shuler, who had lost to Hearns in the first round by knockout, visited Arum in his hotel room to express his gratitude for giving him the chance to challenge Hearns. Shuler passed away in a motorcycle accident eleven days after that match.
Arum continued to put on large-scale undercards and superfights, like as the fight between Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard, the 1989 rematch between Leonard and Thomas Hearns, the Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman fight, and many others. Former world flyweight champion Michael Carbajal, six-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya, eight-time world champion Manny Pacquiao, and three-time world champion Erik Morales are just a few of Arum’s 1990s heroes. In his later years of boxing, Arum also supported the renowned champion Julio César Chavez.
Since statistics reveal that boxing is one of the most popular sports among Hispanics, Arum has focused primarily on promoting Hispanic fighters. In cities with sizable Spanish-speaking populations in the Southwest of the United States, he has concentrated many of his shows. Additionally, he promotes a lot of the shows on the Spanish-language network Telefutura. In addition to Mexican-American Antonio Margarito, who held the 147-pound WBO belt from 2002 to 2007, Mexican-American José Ramrez, the former WBC and WBO light welterweight world champion, Honduran-American Teófimo López, the former lightweight world champion, and Mexican scar Valdez, the former WBC super featherweight world champion, he has also had great success with Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, who won world titles in the 140,
In 1999, Arum was enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was admitted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Southern California in 2003.
Arum has had two marriages. Richard, Elizabeth, and John were his three children from his first marriage. His son, environmental lawyer John Arum (1961–2010), who is well known for his thorough defence of Native American tribal rights, died in a 2010 climbing accident on Storm King, a peak in North Cascades National Park.
He wed Lovee duBoef in 1991; they have two stepchildren together, Todd duBoef, the president of Top Rank, and Dena duBoef, the vice president of Top Rank.
Sheldon Adelson, the late billionaire casino magnate and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., had a close friendship and business relationship with Arum.
Arum supported Hillary Clinton, a Democratic candidate for president of the United States, in the run-up to the 2016 election.
