Boxing Promoter Bob Arum Makes Anti-Gay Comments
September 11, 2009 by Seth Adam, GLAAD's National News Fellow
The sports website Fanhouse reports today that 77-year old boxing promoter Bob Arum made several defamatory statements during an interview at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. Following a press conference on the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight, Arum, the CEO and Founder of ’Top Rank Boxing,’ voiced disparaging and homophobic opinions about the sport of Mixed Marshall Arts (MMA). According to Fanhouse:
The 77-year-old boxing promoter criticized Floyd Mayweather for fighting “scared” and not being an entertaining fighter. Arum also seemed to squash any hopes of seeing a Mayweather-Pacquaio super-fight in the future. But his harshest words were saved for MMA, as Arum said the sport looks like “guys rolling around like homosexuals on the ground” and called MMA fans “a bunch of skinhead white guys.”
You can view the remarks here. The skinhead comments can be found at 4:40. The homophobic statement can be seen at 5:40.
GLAAD condemns Arum’s comments and calls on him to make a swift and sincere apology. This kind of gratuitous anti-gay commentary has no place in the public discourse and we’ll be reaching out to Arum directly to voice our concerns.
Check back here for further updates.
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