By Jacquelynn D. Powers, Photographs: Francis George

t a time when boxing has lost some of its luster with the mainstream, the sport's biggest promoter, Bob Arum, isn't conceding anything. Far from waving a white towel, Arum, despite being in his 70s, is still the ultimate spinmaster. Maybe Michael Douglas has moved on to basketball (as evidenced by his support courtside of the Detroit Pistons) and Cindy Crawford regularly attends the Ultimate Fighting Championships in Vegas, but Arum doesn't mind these celebrity defections because boxing has attracted an entirely new, and even bigger, audience: America's swelling Latin population, which is tuning in to bouts with Erik Morales and Miguel Cotto in record numbers. Ironically, Arum, the chairman of Top Rank, may be responsible for this trend with his legendary partnership with pugilist Oscar De La Hoya, whom he has promoted (on and off) for more than 13 years to international fame.

Arum was around for boxing's glory days, too. He practically invented the promotion business with his involvement in closed-circuit TV and a weekly boxing show on ESPN, which ran for 15 years. The former gogetter lawyer, who took on Con Edison, Citibank and Standard Oil in landmark cases during his tenure with the U.S. Attorney General's office in the '60s, parlayed his courtroom skills into the boxing ring with marquee matchups for Muhammad Ali, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard and De La Hoya. Along the way, the Vegas resident has become a lively and controversial figure in the shadowy world of boxing: In 2004, his offices were raided by the FBI for suspicion of fixing fights despite his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame; Arum still does not know the reason for the investigation, but could not comment on the advice of his lawyer. He is also known for his verbal and legal sparring with Don King, as well as his protégé De La Hoya. But for the gravelly voiced Arum, you're only as relevant as your next fight—and in that endeavor he intends to remain on top of his game.

VEGAS: Tell me about the Million Dollar Lady fight at Mandalay Bay on July 30th, with Lucia Rijker and Christy Martin. Is it inspired by the movie Million Dollar Baby?

BOB ARUM: Yeah, it was inspired by the movie, clearly. I was speaking with Emanuel Steward, who is the manager of Lucia Rijker, and he said that she would like a big fight. She was in the movie and the idea occurred to me: Why don't we do a fight where we can pay a woman for the first time in history a purse of a million dollars? I came up with paying the women $250,000 each and the winner an additional $750,000 to make her the Million Dollar Lady.

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