Arum: White Has ‘Flawed Intelligence’
Top Rank Boxing promoter Bob Arum took aim at UFC president Dana White for still trying to promote fights.
As the recent pandemic continues to put the world at a standstill, sports leagues around the world have all either postponed or canceled their upcoming events to combat the spread of the virus.
While the UFC has postponed three recent shows, White has been adamant about resuming his fight schedule starting with UFC 249 which is currently set to take place on April 8.
But for Arum, that’s the last thing that is needed amid the current situation.
“He ought to be ashamed of himself,” Arum said on CBS Sports’ State of Combat podcast (via MMA Fighting). “What’s going on in this country and the world with this virus, the last thing we need is for an event to take place with no spectators just to get the event to take place. But the truth is Dana White is somebody with a flawed intelligence.”
Arum, meanwhile, has postponed all scheduled Top Rank events, including the Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder trilogy fight which was initially set for July.
With over 900,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide, he believes the message should be to stay at home and take precautions — something that White isn’t reciprocating.
“He’s not going to move forward with the card, and if the card happens with people dying in hospitals all over the United States, he ought to be ashamed of himself,” Arum said. “The message should be stay home and stand down until this is over. Let’s not spread the virus, let’s control the virus and do what we can to staff these hospitals and take care of people who go into intensive care.
”Let’s all be big people and big boys about it and stop the grandstanding. This will end when it ends, and it will end quicker if we all stick together and do what we are supposed to do, not go and shout from the rafters that, ‘I’m not a p-ssy and I’m going to put this fight on. I don’t care.’ That is absolutely the wrong message to send.
“… People ask me what plans I’m making for these fights when we will get the all clear. Because I don’t know when the all clear is going to be and I have no idea whether it will be two months, three months or even the rest of the year, I’m not making any plans right now. When this thing looks like it’s clearing up, we will start making plans.”
Although Arum and White are heated rivals who have gone back-and-forth over the years, the former certainly has a point.
