"How can Bob Arum and the powers that be stop a $200 million fight [Mayweather vs. Pacquiao] from happening because of a personal difference? Because that's all it was...This man [Arum] stopped both of these guys from having that kind of influence on this sport. The problem with that is Mayweather is the guy to beat Pacquiao. See, I started all of this and I knew what I was doing by keeping Pacquiao away from African American fighters. You got Mayweather, an African American that don't give a damn that's a faster fighter than Pacquiao is. I think he would have beat the daylights out of Pacquiao, but I knew what I was doing by avoiding those types of fights for Pacquiao. I don't know if that boy is on steroids, but Pacquiao should have said, 'I will take the test if I can receive 80% of my money.' Because right now, they take 80% of what Pacquiao makes. He should have made that deal with Arum," stated promoter Murad Muhammad as he revealed more details about Manny Pacquiao, Bob Arum, their relationship and much more. Don't miss this behind-the-scenes look into the history of the sport as Murad himself tells his story in his own words. From Muhammad Ali to Manny Pacquiao, he has worked alongside some of the biggest names in boxing and you don't want to miss more of his extremely revealing tales. Check it out...
So one day after the Eric Morales fight...everybody knows I'm in my suite. I don't party, I don't drink and I come down and shake a few hands. I keep my weakness around me. My wife is always with me, when I'm in the country or out of the country. I don't play games. I come to do my job and my job is to create the biggest fights that I can create, even though I'm around coke, dope, homosexuals, bisexuals, down-lows, alcoholics and gamblers. It doesn't bother me. If a man chooses that type of social life, it's his prerogative. I don't judge him. I choose not to. So I carried a decent life.
So I'm in my suite and the phone rings and a voice said, "Can I come upstairs?" I said, "Yes!" He sat down and said, "Are you upset?" I said, "Nah, I'm not upset." He said, "You better not be because you are not in the low-life, scum-of-the-earth, backstabbing club." I sat up and I said, "What are you talking about?" He said, "If you see the life that most of them live in their social life, you would run like hell. The reason they come at you is because you are not in their club and they don't want you to conduct yourself the way that you do. You treat your fighters fair, you give them what they deserve to have, but you gotta understand, you shut a lot of people down." I thought about that...he was the former FBI.
You see, I was shutting Arum down. I was taking over the Mexican fighters. I was beating him. After Eric Morales, who did Bob Arum have? After that, who did they have? I was beating everything. My brother, I gave away $30 million. I walked away from a $30 million asset [Manny Pacquiao] that I built with the mercy of God. When you talk about Michael Jackson, you gotta talk about Barry Gordy. He built Michael, but his name is Gordy. My name is Muhammad. They didn't want Muhammad's name shining, so they wrote me out of the script. They don't even show my picture. They try their damndest to stay away from the great fights that were my fights. People say that I didn't promote Pacquiao, but HBO could tell you, and you can write this, when I do a deal with HBO, the reason why the main event, like Arum or King or Duva, would let me have the semi [co-main event] is because they owe HBO semi events. Sometimes, the bigger the event, the more you have to spend. So HBO says, "You don't have to spend no money. We're going to buy that semi event." So they come to me and they say, "Alright Murad, I'm going to give you $200,000." But the $200,000 isn't just mine. I gotta buy the opponent, I gotta fly Pacquiao in, I gotta put him in a hotel, I gotta feed him, I gotta pay his purse and I gotta pay the sanctioning body, as if I'm promoting the main event. All through my career, I had to do that, so that shuts down those pea-brains that call themselves promoters and don't know what they are talking about. This is documented. I negotiated my own contract with HBO. The main event promoter don't want to hear nothing about it, but he don't want it to cost him anything, so I do promote. He's not going to give my kid publicity. I gotta buy my own publicity and that's what I do good. I promote my kid, regardless of where they may go. And guess what? You can print this, in every city, I got a license. If you're in San Francisco, I got a license. If you're in California, I got a license. If you are in Vegas, I got a license. If you are in Mississippi, I got a license. New York, Memphis, which is the roughest, but I got a license and they make you go through a whole test to get licensed there.
When we were in court, they told Lou Dibella he was a disgrace to Harvard and called him a liar. They said, "And all of you up here, Judd Bernstein, ya'll worked for Don King. This is a skillful low-life impact." Just then, Pacquiao walked out of the courtroom. You know who that was saying that? The former FBI. You can print that man because that was all on record. That's on the record. I was shocked and amazed that a Caucasian took another Caucasian...and that's why I say he's not black or white, he is a human being. This man called it like he seen it and The Flag Man, because I'm clean, he wouldn't let me do nothing dirty and he was there when that statement was made. He was the one that told me to sue because we've got all kinds of racial calls saying they were going to kill me and my family because I robbed Pacquiao. He knew that was the wrong thing to say on the air, but I didn't do it. I did not do it. I kept my mouth quiet and I kept on. But now, today, you know nothing happens without the will of God. It was meant for me to go into seclusion and study the way I studied and to do now what I have done for my Islamic world and let the world know that we, the Muslims, one billion and 500 million strong, make a prayer for Jews and Christians five times a day.
You know, there is nothing wrong with our sport. There is something wrong with a lot of people who make up our sport, but boxing is a great vehicle for minorities. These people from foreign countries, now we realize Haiti is 5-times behind. You don't call that a 3rd world country; that's a 5th world country. But you got other countries, and if they don't use the vehicle of boxing, most of them will not get out of that poverty. Here in America, we have kids in the streets shooting each other; drive-by shootings. If you don't have gyms set up where they could get off the streets and go learn a trade, we're in trouble. You don't think they want to be Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes or Tyson? They want to make that money. You give them the incentive by allowing them to go to the amateur team and allowing them to have gyms and allowing trainers to train them. We can't do that if we don't put back. How could Arum see the whole amateur team in Las Vegas go down when he makes money off of these kids when they become Olympic champions?
How can Bob Arum and the powers that be stop a $200 million fight [Mayweather vs. Pacquiao] from happening because of a personal difference? Because that's all it was. What gives Bob Arum the right to talk about Floyd Mayweather the way he does? He [Mayweather] wasn't a "coward" when he promoted him and he was making money off of his blood, sweat and tears or when he called him the greatest thing since Ali and maybe even better. But ah, the truth is going to come out now. What gives Bob Arum the right to stop a poor kid from Michigan and a poor kid from the Philippines from making $20, $30 or $40 million so that they can help their people? Floyd could have done wonders with that money if he did the right thing and took it back home and put it back into the city. Pacquiao could have done wonders if he brought that money back to the Philippines and did the right thing with it and gave back to the community. See, don't think this fight didn't happen because of a blood test. This is Bob Arum's way of saying, "screw you Floyd Mayweather and screw you Oscar De La Hoya." And the sad part about that is those are the 2 fighters, along with Pacquiao, that has made him the most money. But Bob goes home to a mansion. When Floyd goes back to Grand Rapids, he doesn't see any mansions. When Pacquiao goes back to the Philippines, he doesn't see any mansions, but Arum is comfortable, so he doesn't give a damn. This is the same guy [Bob Arum] that put a quitter in the rankings, Sam Peter. The problem is not with Floyd Mayweather asking for a drug test. This is Bob Arum doing what he has been doing for years and that's taking all of his toys and breaking them if he can't have it his way.
If Floyd Mayweather beats Manny Pacquiao and makes that kind of money while doing it, you can start talking about him as being one of the greatest ever. On the other hand, if Manny Pacquiao beats Floyd Mayweather while making that type of money, he could go back to Manila and be a hero there. This man [Arum] stopped both of these guys from having that kind of influence on this sport. The problem with that is Mayweather is the guy to beat Pacquiao. See, I started all of this and I knew what I was doing by keeping Pacquiao away from African American fighters. You got Mayweather, an African American that don't give a damn that's a faster fighter than Pacquiao is. I think he would have beat the daylights out of Pacquiao, but I knew what I was doing by avoiding those types of fights for Pacquiao. I don't know if that boy is on steroids, but Pacquiao should have said, "I will take the test if I can receive 80% of my money." Because right now, they take 80% of what Pacquiao makes. He should have made that deal with Arum. I see this Promoter's Association, but the problem with that is there is nothing in continuity to make big fights. They can't. So how do the fighters benefit from these promoters all getting together? They don't! At the end of the day, when it's all said and done and the final Day of Judgment has arrived, Bob Arum will be asked, "What have you done for humanity?" Because fact is Bob Arum didn't make his money as a lawyer. He's made his money off of fighters and most of them are minority fighters. Bob Arum doesn't give a penny to the inner city where these fighters come from and that's not humane. He didn't make his money as a lawyer. He's made his money in boxing and he hasn't given anything back to the sport that's made him rich!
BE SURE TO CHECK BACK FOR MUCH MORE WITH MURAD MUHAMMAD IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 3 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 4 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 5 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 6 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 7 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 8 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 9 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 10 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 11 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 12 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 13 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
CLICK HERE FOR PART 14 OF THIS EXCLUSIVE
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]