Arum's miscalculation: Not understanding magnitude of Manny

In the avalanche of almost 18,000 emails I received in support of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto bout being for the WBO welterweight title, a reader named Anibus thankfully changed the topic.

As the dust settles, as promoter Bob Arum should be scribbling a brief apology to Pinoys in particular and to fight fans in general (but he won’t), Anibus wonders if the sly, old dog was just milking the title bout sanction situation to bury his own opponent.

In case you’ve been stuck in a cave in Nobodycaresistan or have amnesia, Top Rank’s archival remains Golden Boy.

Anibus wonders if Arum first misspoke or just spoked in a brain freeze “senior moment” but then let the controversy play out to bury the Goldens Sept. 19 Juan Manuel Marquez-Floyd Mayweather Jr. card.

It’s tempting to say the usually canny Arum lit the fire and then tossed a can of gasoline on it to pump up his Nov. 14 PPV megabout and, at the same time, to hamper the sagging, once postponed JMM-PBF card.

In the Top Rank Top Dog’s treacherous mind, that would be a win win situation for him and a double loser for Oscar de la Hoya and staff.

No, I can’t sign on to that tantalizing theory.

What happened here is that, for all the lip service he pays to the Pinoy Idol and despite his trips to the Philippines to see Mannymania up close and person, is that Arum made a serious misjudgment.

It reminds me of when Reggie Jackson, the egomaniac who can strut while sitting down, was blathering about just how awesome a person he is/

The Yankee slugger called himself “the straw that stirs the drink” when he came to New York. If you had a candy bar named after you, you might also have such a massive ego.

My other favorite Reggie back pat was the day he uttered this classic, “Sometimes, I don’t even understand the magnitude of me.”

Yes, Jackson went to Arizona State but he did his postgrad work at IGMU, I’ve Got Mine University.

It was all about Reggie 24 hours a day.

I remember that “Mr. October” carried a hand mirror. I think he used to gaze deeply into it and sing, “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”

Arum misunderstood the magnitude of Pacman, the world’s most popular athlete.

Arum never thought I would keep pounding away here, backed by your emails from all over the US, the country which he said did not care about the title, and from Singapore, from Moscow, from Dubai, from London, from New Zealand, from South Africa and of course thousands from the Philippines.

This was no contrived cause celebre. Devoted Pacquiao loyalists exploded in reaction to Arum’s snide, cavalier remark.

I know Arum is no racist but the statement also smacked of patronizing, “Great White Father” attitude.

That, as much as the content of his statement, is what set the alarms off in Pacman World.

No way Arum schemed this out just for a tsunami of publicity. But he got it anyway because the boxing public certainly knows now who is fighting Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand and, now finally, they know what is at stake as Megamanny tries to make ring history.

Major miscalculation by Arum, a legendary promoter.

Uncle Bob just didn’t comprehend the full magnitude of Manny.

It’s Pacquiao’s world, Mr. Arum, we’re just living in it.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-5699-NY-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m7d28-Arums-miscalculation-Not-understanding-magnitude-of-Manny