Who do you rate as the better promoter and why? Who do you feel put on the better, bigger, historically important fights out of the two?
Don King was a much better promoter as far as the fans were concerned. Bob Arum routinely schedules the most useless undercards in boxing history.
Well, in the last decade or so, Arum has certainly pulled ahead of King in terms of sheer numbers of significant title fights he's been involved with. Arum was in the business nearly a full decade before King, and has thrived since King's influence faded away following the death of his wife. But, historically, Don King will probably stand as the more significant of the two. He was the first black promoter to control boxing. He staged enough epic fights that it took Bob Arum more than 50 years in the business to actually sneak ahead of King. And King's iconic image - with the spiked hair and his gift for gab - is one-of-a-kind. Two Hall of Fame promoters, definitely. But King is the more historically significant of the two for me. When the mainstream public imagines a boxing promoter, a character like Don King comes to mind. In his day, he was larger than life. (Arum, not so much.)
Don King defnitely took undercards and, at times, made them spectacular. If Arum could throw Butterbean and Mia St. John on every undercard until the end of time, he would. (LOL) Undercards were always an afterthought to him.
Equal.. They both did so much just in different ways. Both made the fights. I think Don King gave us more for the money in PPV kind of fights, but significance in boxing both were big. Some people will say promoters would always be there to promote a fight if there is money in it. Maybe right.
I would say equal as well, though Don's flamboyant persona made him stand out more. Bob's company probably stood out more, and had Hagler, and ocassionally Ali and Leonard.
Arum has DK beat in longevity, but prime for prime there's no comparison. It's King, and it's not close.