Legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum flags a potential showstopper as he claims that the UFC will look for 50% from Conor McGregor should he fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is a name as synonymous with the sport as any, having promoted names such as Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Although a polarizing figure in the world of boxing, most fight fans will agree that he is qualified to talk on matters of the sport.
Arum got on the wrong side of UFC president Dana White last year, who referred to the octagenarian promoter as “the biggest dirtbag in all sports”. Arum, in turn, labelled the prospect of a Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout “nonsense” earlier this year and has long been an outspoken critic of the UFC in general.
Arum was recently interviewed by FightHub where he gave his two-cents on the prospect of the fight. Perhaps the highlight of the video you can watch above is a claim by Arum that the UFC are looking to take 50% of any purse McGregor negotiates for a fight with “Money” (via Bloody Elbow):
“I think the only impediment there is the UFC, because UFC doesn’t treat fighters the same way that boxing promoters do. In other words, UFC fighters get so much less than boxers do. They proposed a deal to Conor that on his share of the purse, they take 50 percent. Now, give me a break.
“If the fight doesn’t happen…not that I think it’s going to be a great fight, because I think Conor fighting Mayweather is not really a fight, if it’s boxing. Conor (is a) great MMA fighter, but hasn’t shown anything in boxing. And Mayweather’s one of the great fighters. But if that fight doesn’t happen, the blame will only be on the UFC.”
Arum has a track record of making inflammatory comments against the UFC, and this latest interview does little more than back up that assertion. However “Top Rank” promote McGregor’s friend, Michael Conlan. There has been speculation that Arum could have caught wind of this information from the man he walked into the ring at Madison Square Garden last weekend but in all reality comments like these seem par for the course in the McGregor vs. Mayweather Jr. sideshow these days.
