Watch Manny Pacquiao vs Joshua Clottey: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: BOB ARUM

Top Rank bringing first fight to new Meadowlands!

GL: What's the latest with The Event, how's everything going? "It's going spectacular, tickets are flying out. There's a lot of excitement, a lot of celebrities are coming out, people from all over. We could fill up the place with all of the NFL owners coming to the fight, and coaches. It's really something very, very special."

GL: You were originally hoping to put Margarito on the undercard, that's not happening. Can you give us some thoughts on why that's not happening, and your opinion on his prolonged suspension?

The Bobfather: "Texas had the right to grant Margarito a liscense, they wanted to have a hearing. That was going to take too long, we had to get the card settled, so instead Margarito's going through the process of what he has to do to get his liscense. We're going to have him fight on May 8th, in Ocho Calientes. Part of a big festival in Mexico, and it will be shown in the United States on PPV."

GL: If Antonio Margarito wasn't with Top Rank, would you be lobbying for his lifetime banishment from boxing? Based on what transpired before the Mosley fight.

The Bobfather: "Absolutely not, because the finding of the California Comission was that he knew nothing of what was happening. The inspector said the same thing. They revoked his liscense for a year because they said he was the captain of the ship. He was responsible for what the trainer was doing, and we abided by that, and now we'll reapply for a liscense in California or some other state. Meanwhile, he's going to go back in action, and he is going to be fighting in Mexico on May 8th?"

GL: If things get resolved with California before May 8th, will he be in action in the States before May 8th? Or are those plans already solid gold?

The Bobfather: "Solid gold, he's headlining a big night in Mexico. You have to understand this festival in Mexico is an annual thing. It attracts over a million people from all over Mexico and Latin America. We put a fight on in the bullring in conjunction with the festival a few years ago and did 24,000 people, and we plan to do that again on May 8th as part of the festival."

GL: I read a story that there was a potential bar mitzvah being an obstacle in bringing the Cotto-Foreman fight to Yankee Stadium, now the AP reports that it's been resolved. How were you guys able to make that go away, and free up the stadium for Cotto-Foreman?

The Bobfather: "The bar mitzvah family had reserved the stadium and at least two lounges, and they wanted the screen. The Yankees talked to the family and worked it out, both the big fight and the bar mitzvah are going to occur on the same night. I think we're going to havek 50,000 people celebrating this kid's bar mitzvah, which is a lot more than those who celebrated mine."

GL: When can we expect a formal announcement of Cotto-Foreman?

The Bobfather: "I am going to coming to New York on Monday evening, and I'm going to be meeting with the Yankees at Yankee Stadium with the COO of the Yankees. We hope to finanlize a deal at that time."

GL: Pavlik and Martinez?

The Bobfather: That's already set for Atlantic City on April 17th. Rather than rush a press conference, with everything going on, we're going to have a press conference as part of a brunch on March 13th, in Dallas, with both fighters there to formally announce the fight. The tickets go on sale for the Convention Hall, in Atlantic City on Monday."

GL: I think you guys have the best matchmakers in the business, but I think Martinez could be a stylistic nightmare for Pavlik. Why make this fight?

The Bobfather: "It's a competitive fight, Kelly wanted to fight a competitive fight. We were willing to fight either Williams or Martinez. With Williams, we had a deal in place, it was terminated because Kelly was injured. Then they turned it around and said they wanted a 50/50 deal, which to me seemed to say they didn't want the fight. After all, Kelly is not only the middleweight champion, but also the attraction. Paul Williams can't sell 1000 seats anywhere in the country. He's a good fighter, I'd be willing to do the deal that we had in place before. His people felt otherwise."

GL: Will there be a rematch clause for Pavlik, if Martinez is victorious?

The Bobfather: "Yes."

GL: Other than that, does Top Rank have any futures on Martinez, or no?

The Bobfather: "No, no futures, except as we have said, if Martinez beats Kelly, there's an immediate rematch clause."

GL: Was part of your thinking to make the Martinez fight, other than you telling me it's always easier to make a fight that doesn't involve Al Haymon than one that does involve Al Haymon, to try to box them out as it relates to Williams?

The Bobfather: "We don't do box outs, we're not playing basketball. We do the best fight available for our fighter, the fight that can make everyone the most money, the most attractive fight. I really, really don't do these things on the basis of boxing out anybody. Once you start doing that, then you cease to be a good business person."

GL: Is Winky Wright about to become Top Rank's newest aquisition?

The Bobfather: "Yeah, well we're going to do a series of fights for Winky, and I hope to have Winky fighting in Yankee Stadium on June 5th."

GL: That would be big. Obviously the idea behind getting Winky would be that him and Pavlik would be sharing a ring in the future. Correct?

The Bobfather: "That is absolutely correct."

GL: What else?

The Bobfather: "Everything else is going well. We are looking to fill in the dates for the three most exciting fighters in boxing, Juan Manuel Lopez, Yuri Gamboa, and Edwin Valero. The Valero fight, when it takes place, will be against Lamont Peterson. Juan Manuel is going to fight Barnabe Conception in the Phillipines, and Yuri Gamboa is going to fight Caballero. The point is you've got to make fights. In other words, people say Caballero is a really good fight. He is, and that's why we're doing the fight. I really have tremendous confidence in the fighters that fight for Top Rank, but you have to make good fights."

GL: Peterson could be wrong for Valero too.

The Bobfather: "Absolutely correct. If Valero can't handle a good boxer, then Peterson will lick him, but that's what people want to see."

GL: You've been in this game for years, and it's made you an animal. There's rules to this shit, so you wrote you a manual.

The Bobfather: "The manual is not to put your guy into the lowest possible risk fight. Sometimes you do that, when the guy is coming off of a loss, when you have to build his confidence back, but just because you can get away with a non-competitve fight doesn't mean that you do it."

GL: Closing thoughts.

The Bobfather: "I think we're really very active. This has been a great year for Top Rank, we have everybody in action. We have a tremendous event with Pacquiao-Clottey in Cowboy Stadium in March. In April, Pavlik-Martinez in Atlantic City, in May we have Antonio Margarito in title fight in Ochos Calientes, in Mexico. It's part of the biggest festival of the year in Mexico. In June, I'll be priviliged to do the first fight in the New Yankee Stadium, and that's fitting because Top Rank did the last fight, Ali-Norton, in 1976 in the old Yankee Stadium. Another arena we're looking at, hopefully next year, probably the spring, I want to do the first fight at the stadium in the Meadowlands, that the Giants and the Jets have just built. By the way, both Steve Tish and Woody Johnson of the Jets will be in Cowboy Stadium for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight."