Bob Arum: I am ready to promote Trump vs. Sanders

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Steve Marcus

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum speaks during a final news conference for Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Timothy Bradley Jr. on Wednesday, April 6, 2016, at MGM Grand.

Thu, May 26, 2016 (8 p.m.)

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Bob Arum knows weird. In 1973, he promoted Evel Knievel’s attempt at clearing the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho, in a rocket cycle. The entire spectacle was broadcast on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.”

The stunt famously culminated in Knievel’s rocket bike — with him fastened into the capsule — vanishing into the depths of the canyon after its parachute prematurely activated.

“That,” Arum said this evening in a phone chat, “was weird.”

So on the weird scale of 1-to-Knievel, Arum’s latest idea — “The Heavyweight Debate: Donald Trump vs. Bernie Sanders” — also is pretty odd. The legendary boxing promoter is offering to promote a proposed Donald Trump vs. Bernie Sanders presidential debate; the topic surfaced Wednesday night during Trump’s appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Fittingly, Kimmel’s hometown is Las Vegas, and Arum’s Top Rank Boxing operation’s headquarters are here.

Arum says the format would be “five or six” segments, or “rounds,” organized by subject: foreign policy, domestic policy, Supreme Court nominations, skin tone and the like. His “dream panel” of judges are Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz and Mitt Romney.

“Can you imagine?” Arum said. “They would ask better questions than the media.”

Ticket sales and any pay-per-view revenue would be delivered to charities of the candidates’ choosing. Arum says he would seek an arena for the spectacle, which would coincide with the California primaries June 7.

“To tie it in to the California primaries, I would look for a venue in California, like the Staples Center (in Los Angeles),” Arum said. “If it is later, I’ll talk to MGM Resorts about using T-Mobile Arena.”

How would this event be judged? Probably not at all.

“You could never get both sides to agree on a panel of judges, and the ruling would be debated and disputed forever,” he said. “You have a big enough problem with the judging in boxing.”

I asked Arum if he honestly felt this event would come off. The man who put Mr. Knievel into a rocket bike said only, “I have no idea.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow Kats on Instagram at Instagram.com/JohnnyKats1.

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