Rival: Arum lied yesterday, not telling the truth today

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000 | 9:42 a.m.

Easygoing as he is, Arthur Williams expressed only soft-spoken displeasure that his rematch with Vassily Jirov appears to be on hold. Oh, he talked about "maybe having to sue somebody" to force the matter to a head, but he was hardly vigilant in his tone despite his lingering disappointment.

But talking with his promoter, Murad Muhammad, was another thing altogether.

Seemingly anxious to rip into rival promoter Bob Arum, Muhammad, speaking from his New Jersey office this week, fired several verbal volleys in an effort to force Arum's hand and put Williams and Jirov in the ring a second time.

Jirov defeated Williams by seventh-round TKO June 5 in Biloxi, Miss., lifting Williams' International Boxing Federation cruiserweight championship in the process. According to Williams and Muhammad, the contract from that fight had a rematch clause that guarantees a return bout in the event Jirov -- who is promoted by Arum -- won.

"I gave the Russian a shot and now I'm hoping he'll live up to his word and give me one," Williams said before departing Wednesday for Atlantic City, where he's headlining a Saturday card by taking on another former champion, Nestor Giovannini. It's Williams' third fight since losing to Jirov and it's obviously starting to wear on Muhammad.

"We gave Bob Arum the opportunity to have his man fight Arthur and it was stated very clearly that if the kid beat Arthur, the rematch would be right away," Muhammad said. "Arthur made a sacrifice for that fight in that it wasn't a mandatory and he didn't have to do it.

"I think he took Jirov lightly and that's why he lost the fight, but that's not the point.

"The point is, Arum lied."

Muhammad was just getting warmed up.

"Both (Don) King and Arum would stab a fighter in the back for a dollar," he said.

"Aside from the fact one's an African-American and the other is Caucasian, there's no difference between them.

"I'll never trust Arum on his word again. I'll openly say he's a liar. I've never done business with a liar before and Arum lied on this deal.

"The only reason we haven't sued him yet is that I've been wanting to work this thing out. It's my job to protect Arthur's interests but I can't do it when I'm dealing with a liar."

So, Murad, how do you really feel?

"Thanks to Arum lying to us, Arthur has had to go into the soup line to face lesser opponents at a time when he should be fighting Jirov," Muhammad said. "I even said to Arum, 'Let's take the fight to Russia.' But Jirov is such a pink elephant that he's not respected in his home country and there isn't a person there who would spend a nickel to see him.

"Arthur's not a young man but he can fight, and Arum is ignoring a verbal and written agreement that would allow (Williams) a chance to regain his championship. Arum hasn't lived up to his end of the contract and it's something I'll never forget."

Those invectives aside, Williams goes into his Saturday fight with Giovannini needing a win to stay alive in the cruiserweight sweepstakes.

Williams, 35, is 32-5-1 and is ranked No. 6 by the IBF.

Giovannini, of Argentina, is 37-9-4 and took this fight last week when Williams' originally scheduled opponent, Latvia's Valery Vikhor, encountered visa problems entering the United States.

"I don't know the guy but I'm ready to go," Williams said. "With the experience I have, I don't worry about the man across from me."

Williams said he trained hard for this fight and is keeping himself prepared in the event the rematch with Jirov falls into place.

"I'm going to stay ready and try to get my title back," he said. "I'm in good shape and I've been working out every day, including running on Sunday."

While Williams jousts with Giovannini, Jirov is preparing for a Feb. 12 fight -- likely to go to Miami -- with mandatory challenger Saul Montana.

That fight will be Jirov's second since defeating Williams, as he handled Dale Brown in 10 rounds Sept. 18.