This month, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum celebrated his 94th birthday. The New Yorker has been promoting fights for almost 60 years, and what he doesn’t know about boxing wouldn’t be worth printing.
The Harvard-educated former lawyer has worked with some of the sport’s greatest fighters, from Muhammad Ali to Floyd Mayweather, and has promoted many of boxing’s most iconic bouts, including the three-round war between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns in 1985.
Some of those names were referenced in an interview with Sky Sports, where Arum was asked a series of quick-fire questions. One of them was which fighter he considers the “most underrated.” His answer?
“Miguel Cotto.”
The Puerto Rican body-puncher joined Top Rank after his exit from the 2000 Olympics, where he lost his opening bout to Mukhammadkodir Abdullaev — a defeat he avenged in the professional ranks five years later.
Cotto and Arum worked together for 11 years, during which Cotto won world titles in three weight classes and headlined Madison Square Garden on multiple occasions. He went on to claim a belt in a fourth division in 2014.
Cotto retired in 2017 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame five years later. His best wins came against Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and Sergio Martinez. His front-foot style and ferocious body attacks made him a firm crowd favourite, particularly in New York.
