Bob Arum shares an update on what to do with fighters outside the United States in regards to its numerous ESPN shows taking place in the coming weeks.
Top Rank's upcoming shows in Las Vegas, starting on June 9, will be done with a limited roster given that a majority of the fighters involved were living in the United States when the coronavirus pandemic began. This means notable fighters such as unified lightweight titleholder Vasiliy Lomachenko, junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor, unified bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and more won't be able to make it to the United States any time soon.
However, an interesting development occurred when WBA "Regular" super flyweight champion Andrew Moloney and bantamweight contender Jason Moloney were able to fly from Australia to the United States, giving them an opportunity to fight on Top Rank shows later this month. Speaking to Fightful in a recent media conference call, Arum talked about the Moloneys and his plans for the two of them to fight on ESPN shows in the fourth week of June.
"That's a good question. The Moloneys, we take no credit in bringing them into the United States. We told them there was a problem. They internally solved the problem with the Australian government and kudos to them. They were in my office [on June 5]. They're working out at our gym. They'll be going in on the fourth week of June, third week of fights," Arum said.
In addition, Arum addressed the possibility of other fighters from outside the country also coming in like the Moloneys. Arum said Top Rank didn't do much when it comes to the Moloneys and that when it comes to other fighters, there's very little the company can do. Arum did tell Fightful on the call that Lomachenko is expected to be in the United States sometime this month and that unbeaten middleweight Janibek Alimkhanuly is also expected to arrive in the country at some point as well.
"As far as fighters from outside the United States, there's a limit ot what we can do. We don't fly the planes. I have no influence with this White House, thank God, with lifting travel bans, but when there's a will, there's a way. I know that Vasiliy Lomachenko will be coming in the United States sometime in June. Janibek Alimkhanuly will be coming. I don't know when the Brits will come. I don't know when the Canadians will come. This is really out of our hands. Every fighter that wants to come over and participate in these shows and continue their careers has got to find a way to do that on their own with their advisors. We'll facilitate anything we can, but our power is greatly limited," Arum said.
While Arum did not close what the plans were for both fighters, Lomachenko is in the middle of negotiating a fight with fellow lightweight titleholder Teofimo Lopez for a WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight title unification down the road.
You can check out Arum's comments in the video at the top of the page and you can check out the full media call at this link. The Moloneys spoke with Fightful and you can read an article from that interview here and the full video interview can be seen here.
