Minus King or Arum, Leonard-Lalonde Fight Is Bucking the Trend

For years, the two most powerful men in boxing have been rival promoters Bob Arum and Don King.

Look at any of the dozens of major boxing shows in Las Vegas over the last 15 years and either Arum or King promoted it. And frequently, when the question is asked why Las Vegas hotels need Arum or King, no one really seems to know.

Bob Halloran, who at the time was in charge of sports promotions at Caesars Palace, was asked that question a couple of years ago.

“I’ve often wondered myself,” he said.

“Arum comes in here, makes a bunch of phone calls, makes a lot of money, and we wind up actually doing the promotion. Sometimes I think maybe the hotels ought to be in the business of making promotional arrangements with boxers, instead of just the promoters.”

A recent example of why people wonder why promoters are needed: King was the promoter of record for the Mike Tyson-Michael Spinks fight last June in Atlantic City. He was paid something like $3 million. Yet nearly everyone associated with the bout agreed afterward that King not only did little to promote the fight, but rather was actually a drag on the promotion.

He even predicted--accurately, as it turned out--that the fight would be a mismatch.

Among those who have pondered ways to avoid paying millions of dollars to boxing promoters is Mike Trainer, who is Sugar Ray Leonard’s attorney, manager and, now, promoter.

When they ring the bell for Leonard’s bout with Donny Lalonde Monday night at the tennis court stadium at Caesars Palace, Trainer will have crossed over into a brave new world.

A new era for boxing promotions?

A world without Arum or King?

Maybe, on the new era for boxing, not likely, on Arum or King disappearing. All that’s required here, according to Trainer, is to be smart.

“If you’re a boxing manager, and your boxer is under a long-term promotional contract to a promoter, then that’s who you do business with,” Trainer said. “Now, if your boxer is a world-class boxer, or about to become one, then that’s not a good position to be in.

“If, on the other hand, your boxer is a free agent, then you are in a very good position--then you have leverage. You can do business with Arum or King, but only if they show you numbers that are higher than anyone else’s.”

Trainer and Arum have been taking potshots at one another all week. Arum is presenting a Thomas Hearns-Michael Nunn-Matthew Hilton tripleheader at the Las Vegas Hilton Friday night.

At a press conference Tuesday, Arum not only rapped Leonard-Lalonde but suggested that people watch the Monday night football game between Cleveland and Houston instead of Leonard-Lalonde.

“Never, never, never stage a promotion that goes up against Monday night football,” Arum said. “That’s why those guys (Trainer and Caesars Palace) need a promoter, to tell them those things.”

Trainer, however, says that Arum avidly sought to promote Leonard-Lalonde himself.

“I told Bob to put some numbers on the table, and he couldn’t match what we already had,” Trainer said. “He even offered to drop Thomas Hearns from his show, so he could have Michael Nunn fighting underneath Leonard-Lalonde.”

Trainer promoted many of Leonard’s early fights himself and said he told Arum as long ago as 1979: “I don’t need you guys. I’ve already learned how to do this (promote fights).

“I know how to get posters printed up. I know how to get T-shirts made. I know how to negotiate with hotel people.

“See, Arum and King like everyone to believe that they’re indispensable for making these things work, and they’re not,” he said.

“You have to learn about how pay-per-view cable systems work, of course. But I did that. I went to school on the subject. I asked a lot of questions. I asked people to put numbers on the table for me.”

Trainer said he met with five cable television groups before accepting a bid from Titan Sports, Inc., of Stamford, Conn., the parent company of the World Wrestling Federation.

Titan Entertainment, a division of Titan Sports, has syndicated Leonard-Lalonde to more than 700 cable systems in the United States and is also producing the telecast.

Besides not having Arum or King around, the promotion has another switch. Leonard and Lalonde are fighting for straight percentages. In fact, everyone from top to bottom, including Trainer, is working for percentages. No dollar figures appear on the contracts.

“There’s never been a promotion in this state like it,” said Chuck Minker, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission.

But best of all, the way Trainer sees it, is that no promoter is taking a couple of million off the top.

“I think over the next few years in boxing, you will see more stars becoming free agents, that Arum’s and King’s grip on the star-class fighters will lessen,” Trainer said.

“The smartest thing up-and-coming boxers like Mike Tyson, Matthew Hilton and Michael Nunn can do today is to fulfill their present agreements, then become free agents.

“Lalonde figures to make somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million for this show, and the only reason he was available for it is because he has a manager (Dave Wolf) who was smart enough to make sure he was a free agent when this kind of opportunity came along.”

So now we should expect a wave of superstar boxers playing out their options with Arum and King?

Not likely.

Dan Goossen, who manages Nunn, the International Boxing Federation champion, admits he’s intrigued with what Trainer has done, but says he’ll continue with Arum for the foreseeable future.

“I’ve promoted fight shows myself at small venues, but for a major show, it takes up enough of my time just being Michael’s manager,” Goossen said.

“Michael has 2 more fights left for Arum under our contract, and we’re perfectly happy with our relationship.

“Arum has done everything for us he said he would. Bob has done this so many times . . . we feel we’re paying him for his experience, for the smoothness of his promotions.”

Trainer said he has enjoyed everything about putting together Leonard-Lalonde except for the hammering the fight itself has taken in the press.

Many writers have questioned Lalonde’s credentials. Some even see it as a case in which Leonard stands to make a small fortune taking on a underskilled fighter who was selected principally because he’s white.

On Wednesday, Leonard denied that.

“Lalonde was picked not because he’s white, but because he was available,” Leonard said.

“He’s a champion (World Boxing Council light-heavyweight) and because we both want the WBC super-middleweight title. You know, if Lalonde was black, people would be saying ‘Hey, this guy can really fight.’ ”

Lalonde won the WBC’s light-heavyweight title by beating Eddie Davis in Trinidad a year ago. He defended it there against Leslie Stewart May 29.

Despite the knocks on Lalonde, Trainer insists the promotion is a winner.

“We’ve hit a home run; we’re rockin’ and rollin’,” he said. “There is $20 million in the bank, and that’s the floor, not the ceiling.”

When Trainer took on the entire promotion, he took on all the headaches, too. He got another one early Wednesday morning.

“I got a call from someone named Jay Coleman in Canada (Lalonde is a Canadian) this morning who told me he’d had a promotional contract with Donny Lalonde since 1983, and that he’s been trying to collect $200,000 he said Lalonde owes him for years,” Trainer said.

“He said if I didn’t help him get the money, he’d call a press conference and ‘blow the lid off’ this promotion. He said he’d retained a lawyer. He said he was very successful in the publishing business in Canada. I told him I hoped he was. I told him: ‘If you continue in this direction, we may be in the publishing business.’ ”

Another storm cloud that Trainer seemed to adroitly brush aside was a charge by Teddy Atlas, Lalonde’s former trainer, that Lalonde fought stiffs early in his career.

Countered Trainer: “So what? So did Ray. Ray fought all kinds of guys in the early days who didn’t belong in the ring with him. That’s a normal process of development. Pull the records on Mike Tyson’s first 18 opponents and find out what they’ve done since.”

The headaches, Trainer says, will continue right up to the opening bell.

“Here’s my prediction,” he said. “Some doctor in Canada is going to call a news conference and say that Donny Lalonde should not fight because he has a pin in his shoulder.”

Fact is, Lalonde does have a Teflon screw in his left shoulder. It’s from a repair job on an old hockey injury.