Bob Arum was born December 8, 1931 in New York City. He is a professional boxing promoter. He also worked for the US Attorneys Office for the southern district of New York, in the Tax division.

Arum attended Erasmus Hall High School, New York University and Harvard Law School. He worked as an attorney in the United States Department of Justice and had little interest in boxing until 1965.[1] He used his education and business savvy to become a boxing promoter, and during the 1980s became a driving force behind the sport, rivaling Don King. Arum put together superfights like Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Durán and Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns.

A particularly touching moment happened when Arum mounted the Hagler-John Mugabi, Hearns-James Shuler double header in Las Vegas on April, 1986. After the Hearns-Shuler fight, Shuler, who had lost by knockout in the first round, showed up at Arum's hotel room to thank him for the opportunity to fight Hearns. Ten days later, Shuler was dead in an unfortunate motorcycle accident.

Arum kept producing big-scale undercards and superfights, including the Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard bout, the Leonard-Hearns rematch, Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman and many others.

Some of Arum's superstars from the 1990s include former world Flyweight champion Michael Carbajal and current boxing superstars includes five-time world champion Oscar de la Hoya, three-time division champion Erik Morales and reigning and defending WBC Lightweight World champion Manny Pacquiao.

Arum has concentrated largely on promoting Hispanic fighters in recent years, citing surveys which show boxing is among the most popular sports within the Hispanic community. He has had great success with fighters such as Miguel Cotto, who has won world titles at 140 and 147 pounds, and Antonio Margarito, who held a 147-pound WBO belt from 2002-2007.

He has concentrated many of his shows in the Southwestern portion of the U.S., in cities with large Spanish-speaking populations. He's also the promoter of many of the cards on Telefutura, a Spanish language network.

Arum is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.