Arum Calls for Title Unification

The promoter who handles all three world middleweight champions--including North Hollywood’s Michael Nunn--said Friday he expects the division crown to be unified by the middle of next year.

“We hope in the spring to start unifying the championship,” said Bob Arum, president of Top Rank Boxing Inc. “My goal is to have it unified by the end of June 1989.”

Arum said his timetable calls for Nunn, the International Boxing Federation champion, to meet Juan Roldan in October, in Las Vegas. If Nunn wins, as Arum expects, Nunn likely would face World Boxing Council champion Iran Barkley next spring, although Barkley is not obligated to fight for Arum. Barkley’s next fight is not scheduled yet because he recently had eye surgery.

If Nunn and Barkley do meet, Arum envisions the winner facing World Boxing Assn. title-holder Sumbu Kalambay of Italy in June 1989.

The boxing promoter appears to be putting his money on Nunn, who improved his record to 31-0 with 21 knockouts last month with a ninth-round technical knockout of Frank Tate.

“When Michael finally does unify that championship in 1989, he will be treated with as much worldwide acclaim as Marvelous Marvin Hagler had,” said Arum, who promoted all of Hagler’s title fights.

“He will not only be recognized within the next year as the best middleweight, but will be talked about as one of the greatest fighters ever in boxing,” said Arum, who compared Nunn’s defensive prowess to that of Muhammad Ali.

Nunn shrugged off the comparisons, saying he is only interested in taking one fight at a time with his ultimate goal to become the sole middleweight champion.

“No fighter worries me. I want to fight them all,” said Nunn, who answered critics of his offensive skills by thrashing former Olympic champion Tate. “I’ll be looking to box his ears off. I’ll keep him in the middle of the ring and keep my jab in his face.

“I want to have the same attitude as Marvin Hagler,” Nunn added. “He was a great champion and he fought everything out there they threw at him. That’s the way I want to be.”

Nunn, 25, was back in his hometown for a weekend celebration honoring him as Iowa’s first world boxing champion, and he promised that his first title defense after he wins the unified middleweight crown will be in the Quad Cities area.

“You have to be cautious but at a particular point in time, you have to really begin to make your move and that’s what we’re doing now,” Arum said. “Some very, very rich, multimillion-dollar paydays are on the near, not the far horizon now. Believe me, the best is yet ahead.

“We believe now we can begin to boast that Michael is the best fighter in the middleweight division. There’s nobody I can remember who throws a body punch like Michael Nunn.”