Who’s got the better stable of heavyweights? Do you like you some Top Rank - Ajagba, Anderson, Makhmadov, Fury etc or do you prefer the PBC derby’s: Wilder, Arreola, Sanchez, Demirezen, Ruiz etc
Clearly, Top Rank. Bob Arum got his start promoting heavyweights - namely Ali. He's always kind of favored them through the majority of his career. He knows audiences have preferred heavyweights over the years. They have the broadest mainstream appeal. The only time when he got a little shut out was when Don King grabbed up many of them. But when King started to move away from the sport, Arum started grabbing up heavyweights again. Al Haymon, on the other hand, has, from the start, zeroed in on the Junior Lightweight to like Junior Middleweight divisions. They are his favorites. Even when he kicked off the PBC, his initial boxers that he made the face of his first PR campaigns were Broner, Thurman, Porter, Danny Garcia, the Charlos, Berto, Lara, Spence, Santa Cruz, etc. And one of his first hires was Ray Leonard to announce. He always wanted to build a new Leonard or Mayweather. Old boxers, young boxers, prospects in the 130 to 160 range have always been his "primary" focus. He never really stockpiled heavyweights like Arum has tended to do over the years. Arum has historically taken more risks - like staging fights in South Africa when that was considered bad form, and trying to break into the China market - but when something bad happens to his company, like Manny Pacquiao leaves him, he reverts back to the heavyweights. They are a safety net for him.
