Arum rips Ali portrayal in Thrilla documentary
Bob Arum, the 80-year-old promoter who served as attorney and
promoter for boxing legend Muhammad Ali, ripped the way the icon was
portrayed in a recent documentary about fighter Joe Frazier.
Arum made his comments at a pre-fight news conference for Saturday's
pay-per-view welterweight showdown between Filipino star Manny Pacquiao
and Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez.
Two days after Frazier's death Monday after a long fight with liver
cancer, HBO pay-per-view boss Mark Taffet said his network would replay
"The Thrilla in Manila" documentary about the 1975 Ali-Frazier fight
ahead of Pacquiao-Marquez.
That prompted Arum to follow with a harsh critique about the film
being shown by his business partners, noting its portrayal of Frazier's
feelings about taunts by Ali, who called Frazier ugly and a gorilla
among other things.
"That documentary is disgusting," Arum said. "It's filled with stuff
from a lot of people who weren't even around then. I was. It's chocked
full of inaccuracies. It is an unfair attack on Muhammad Ali.
"You can watch it, but don't believe a word that's being said." AFP |