Manny Pacquiao’s manager Bob Arum is declaring war on Floyd Mayweather’s promoter, claiming the guy is “rigging the boxing industry” and taking aim at everyone, including Jay Z, this according to a lawsuit.
Arum’s Top Rank boxing promotions company filed a $100 MILLION lawsuit against Al Haymon, who many consider the most powerful man in boxing.
According to the suit obtained by TMZ Sports, Top Rank claims Haymon has been using unsavory tactics to monopolize the boxing industry, including illegally blocking fights, blocking venues and freezing out other promoters, including Top Rank and Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports company.
Top Rank claims Haymon — who “famously runs his empire from an old school flip phone” — is leveraging his impressive client list (which includes Mayweather, Adrien Broner, Danny Garcia and more) to monopolize the boxing industry.
For example, Top Rank claims Haymon cajoled one of his fighters — Peter Quillin — to turn down a $1.4 million payday in 2014 (the biggest payday of his career) because Jay Z had won the right to promote the fight and Haymon didn’t want to let Roc Nation get his foot into the boxing game.
Top Rank is going after Haymon and his financial backers, the Waddell & Reed investment group for fraud and conspiracy.
Seeing that Bob Arum and his company was also apart of the highest grossing boxing match in the history of the sport, I have a hard time seeing his gripe.
These dudes mad that Al is empowers and takes care of his fighters. All his fighters seem happy with him, and he’s one of the first people they thank after their matches. HBO and Bob Arum can’t stand that shit, so they try to paint him out as some type of villain.
Al Haymond changed the entire business landscape of the sport and PBC revitalized it and brought it to primetime TV for the first time in 30 years.
Now, you see everybody else following his lead. Top Rank did something with TruTV( I believe it was). Roc Nation Sports tried to do the same thing with BET, and neither one was as well executed and as far reaching as what Al has done.
PBC airs on NBC, CBS, ABC, SpikeTV, ESPN and BounceTV; and he didn’t need them to do it.
S/O 2 Al Haymon and Premiere Boxing Champions. Best of luck.