Arum’s New Tune: Let Oscar Retire

Bob Arum wants Oscar De La Hoya to retire. Honest.

“If his [upcoming] album is a success,” Arum said, “I would be the happiest person out there, because I would hope he would go into the music business full time.

“I really like the kid. Why would I want to see him get hit in the head anymore? I wouldn’t have any of my own sons in boxing. I wouldn’t have anyone close to me go into boxing. Why would I want him to stay in the sport?”

Arum’s remarks come amid speculation from knowledgable sources that De La Hoya is unhappy with the promoter and questioning their future together despite the fact that Arum turned the Golden Boy into a gold mine, the biggest non-heavyweight money machine in the history of the sport.

If he wanted to sever ties with Arum, De La Hoya would need the promoter to let him out of his contract, which is unlikely.

De La Hoya, who has said that he plans to continue his career despite losses in two of his last three fights, is scheduled to meet with Arum next week to discuss a rematch with Shane Mosley, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 20.

After Mosley beat De La Hoya on a split decision in June, it was assumed the rematch would be held in the fall. But, heavily involved in his burgeoning singing career, De La Hoya pushed the fight off until January, further calling into question his devotion to boxing.

ALSO ON ARUM’S RETIREMENT LIST

Twenty-four hours after a New Jersey jury acquitted International Boxing Federation founder and former president Bob Lee of charges that he broke the law by accepting secret payments for favors from Arum and fellow promoters Cedric Kushner and Dino Duva, Arum is fuming.

Not at the New Jersey jury, which found Lee guilty on six other counts in his federal racketeering trial, but at the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which fined Arum $125,000 on Wednesday and put restrictions on his promoter’s license for six months for his improper dealings with Lee.

The commission has said it will also hold hearings on Kushner and Duva, but Arum wants to know why his longtime archrival, Don King, isn’t being investigated.

While Arum, Kushner and Duva all admitted making improper payments, King, named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the New Jersey trial, has maintained his innocence.

“King is mentioned all over the [New Jersey] transcripts,” Arum said. “At least call him in and ask him if he made payments. If he says no, fine. If he says yes, take action.

“The fact that he is not being called in makes me think that something is fishy. I voluntarily cooperated [in testifying in New Jersey without immunity]. King didn’t testify. He didn’t cooperate. That means he walks off scot-free? What kind of justice system is that?

“If they do not call King before the commission, I am going to take out full-page ads asking why not, why they have let it drop. I want it out there for all to see.

“Has the Nevada commission only picked on one of its own citizens?”

Arum is a Las Vegas resident.

Kirk Hendrick, Nevada’s chief deputy attorney general, won’t rule out calling King.

“We will do what is appropriate and right under the circumstances,” Hendrick said, “regardless of what anybody is telling us to do.

“We are first calling those people who have admitted making payments. We are investigating all licensees in this state who had involvement in the investigation. Just because they didn’t testify doesn’t necessarily give them a pass.

“Part of what we can do comes down to manpower and resources. This is not the only case we are working on. But we think Nevada has been the leading example in trying to clean up the sport.”

PLEADING HIS CASE

Arum said he was a victim of bad timing in being called before the commission 24 hours before the New Jersey verdict was handed down.

“I think it would have turned out differently if they had waited,” Arum said. “It would have been a different attitude, a different atmosphere. I’m not whining or complaining, but the commission refused to wait even though my lawyers begged them to do so.”

Commission officials say they moved on Arum first because his transcripts were the first they received.

Although he agreed to pay Lee $200,000 to sanction a 1995 title fight between Evander Holyfield and Axel Schulz and actually wrote two checks totaling $100,000, Arum points to doubts raised in the transcripts about whether Lee actually received the money from middleman Stan Hoffman.

“That is a key element in my degree of culpability,” Arum said. “The jury realized there was no bribe because they felt Stan Hoffman went south with the money.

“I’m like Jimmy Carter. Did he commit adultery? Probably not, but he always had lust in his heart.”

THE ODD COUPLE II

When King stole the spotlight from Arum this spring by staging the Felix Trinidad-David Reid fight outdoors at Caesars Palace, a frustrated Arum predicted that rain would ruin the evening. As it turned out, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Last Saturday morning, a rumor spread through the Paris hotel that the Holyfield-Ruiz fight was off because Holyfield had been in a car accident.

The rumor was false.

King, naturally, blamed Arum.

Told that wasn’t very likely because Arum was on vacation on a yacht in the Mediterranean Sea, King wasn’t about to let facts get in the way of his harangue.

“So what?” King said. “Believe me, I know he was on one of those ship-to-shore radios spreading his story back here.”