I'll be the first to admit that I'm not much of a fan of MMA It's not been for lack of trying. More than a few of my friends, including Jon Swensen of Sharkspage, have tried to convert me to the sport, but to no avail. Don't get me wrong, I'll never take a shot at the sport or those who love it. But at the end of the day, it's just not for me.
That's not the case with legendary boxing promoter, Bob Arum. Back on Thursday, FanHouse's Ariel Helwani was chatting up Arum after a press conference at Yankee Stadium promoting the upcoming Manny Pacquaio-Miguel Cotto fight. At one point, the topic turns to MMA, and Arum didn't hesitate in offering his critique of the sport. Be sure to advance the video to the 4:15 mark for the fireworks:
Hats off to Helwani for sticking to his guns and challenging Arum. Truth be told, digging in and standing your ground like that during an on-camera interview is challenging, especially when you're dealing with Arum, one of the biggest names in the history of the boxing game.
On the other hand, it was impossible for me not to come away from watching this video with the impression that the folks in the boxing must be obsessed with MMA, and are perhaps feeling more than a little nervous in light of its rapid growth.
In the end, I look at it this way: While I might not like MMA, I've never come away from a match with the impression that it was fixed. Is there anyone in the world who can say that about professional boxing?
Thanks to Sergio Non for the pointer.
