Hall-of-Famer Bob Arum started in the boxing business 60 years ago with Muhammad Ali – and made “Top Rank” one of the most important promotions in professional boxing.
What began 60 years ago with Muhammad Ali’s title defense in Toronto, Canada, developed into one of the most powerful promotions in the history of boxing. On March 29, 1966, Bob Arum promoted his first fight, starting a journey that lasted six decades. Since then, the now 94-year-old has played a decisive role in shaping generations of champions, significant moments and the global growth of boxing with his company “Top Rank”.
“A great adventure”
“60 years is a long time. I’ve met a lot of great people and it’s been a great adventure,” said Arum. “I’m often asked which promotion was the most difficult for me. The biggest challenge was organizing my first fight. Everything else was a piece of cake in comparison.”
On the evening of March 29, 1966, Ali confidently defended his heavyweight title against George Chuvalo. “The Greatest” won unanimously on points against his Canadian challenger at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. But for the 34-year-old Arum, it was a difficult start to his boxing career.
Born in Brooklyn and a graduate of Harvard Law School, he had no experience as a promoter and little background in boxing. Arum served as a federal prosecutor under then-U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. In 1962, as Chief of the Tax Division of the Southern District of New York, he oversaw the seizure of the proceeds from the heavyweight world championship fight between Floyd Patterson and Sonny Liston.
Nobody wanted Muhammad Ali
A few years later, he met Ali while working in private practice. Despite the refusal of many cities to host the champion due to his stance on the Vietnam War, Arum offered to host the title defense in Toronto. What followed was a hall-of-fame career that shaped boxing for generations.
“The last thing I could imagine back then was being a boxing promoter,” says the trained lawyer. “When I started out, there were no satellites to broadcast boxing matches abroad. This technology simply didn’t exist.” Everything has changed in boxing since then, “from what I did when I started to what I do now, 60 years later,” says Arum. “The most important lesson I’ve learned is that you have to be flexible enough to know that things won’t always stay the same.”
Arum organized a total of 27 fights for Muhammad Ali and became a key figure in the era of the “Four Kings” in the 1980s. He organized important fights with Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran. He later managed George Foreman’s comeback, which culminated in a historic heavyweight title win, and accompanied Manny Pacquiao through his world championship fights in various weight classes.
“Proud to have held out for so long”
The legendary promoter has guided numerous boxers from their professional debut to the world title, including Oscar de la Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Miguel Cotto, Teofimo Lopez, Shakur Stevenson, Oscar Valdez, Mikaela Mayer and Vasiliy Lomachenko. Top Rank continues this tradition today with fighters such as Keyshawn Davis, Xander Zayas, Abdullah Mason and Bruce Carrington.
“When I look back, the thing I’m most proud of is that I’ve lasted so long in the 60 years I’ve been in the sport, both physically and mentally,” admits Arum. “It’s not easy being a promoter.”
In over six decades, Top Rank has hosted more than 2,200 boxing events as well as 700 world championship fights, hosted events in over 200 U.S. cities and dozens of countries, and presented 75 Hall of Fame boxers under its banner. Top Rank will celebrate its 60th anniversary throughout 2026 with special programs, archival features and original digital content honoring the company’s past, present and future, according to a release from the company.
Text: Frank Schwantes