Bob Arum - Biography

Biography

Arum grew up in the Crown Heights section of New York, with an Orthodox Jewish background, and is of Jewish descent. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, New York University, and Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude. He worked as an attorney in the United States Department of Justice and had little interest in boxing until 1965. He used his education and business savvy to become a boxing promoter, notably for Muhammad Ali, and during the 1980s became a driving force behind the sport, rivaling Don King. Arum organized superfights like Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Durán and Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns.

Arum mounted the Hagler-John Mugabi, Hearns-James Shuler double header in Las Vegas on April, 1986. After the Hearns-Shuler fight, Shuler, who had lost by knockout in the first round, showed up at Arum's hotel room to thank him for the opportunity to fight Hearns. Ten days later, Shuler was dead in an unfortunate motorcycle accident.

Arum kept producing big-scale undercards and superfights, including the Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard bout, the Leonard-Hearns rematch, Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman and many others.

Some of Arum's superstars from the 1990s include former world flyweight champion Michael Carbajal and six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya and current boxing superstars includes eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and three-division world champion Erik Morales. Arum promoted the legendary champion Julio Cesar Chavez in his late years of boxing.

Arum has concentrated largely on promoting Hispanic fighters in recent years, citing surveys which show boxing is among the most popular sports within the Hispanic community. He has had great success with fighters such as Miguel Cotto, who has won world titles at 140, 147 and 154 pounds, and Antonio Margarito, who held a 147-pound WBO belt from 2002–2007.

He has concentrated many of his shows in the Southwestern portion of the U.S., in cities with large Spanish-speaking populations. He's also the promoter of many of the cards on Telefutura, a Spanish language network.

Arum is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame. He is married with a son, daughter, step-son and step-daughter.