Bob Arum has no problem if his pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford wants more money to fight in an empty arena. The promoter will simply look for someone else if boxing returns without spectators amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Next man up,” Arum said on the Boxing with Chris Mannix show. “Nobody in this situation is indispensable.”
He went on: “If a fighter said, ‘No, I don’t want to fight without an audience’ or you have to pay me more, that’s OK. I respect that. Next man up. … Again, nobody can force anybody to fight and nobody can force a promoter to use them.
“I’m going to have to use those fighters who have managers who realize the situation they are in.”
Arum has said he would like to resume boxing in June but only if all involved are safe. He has been openly critical of Dana White’s plan to stage three UFC cards this month, beginning this Saturday.
And he suggested the fresh start could be good for the sport.
“I look forward – maybe I’m an optimist – to more cross-promotions like [Wilder-Fury],” he said. “I think if we do that and we start churning out Crawford vs. [Errol] Spence and a lot of fights that can be made that the public wants to see, I think boxing will revive and be back, almost, to where it was in the 1980s with the Four Kings (Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns).”