The first product of the Top Rank-Golden Boy Promotions truce arrives Oct. 6, a rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera. But the encore is an even bigger and better fight: young gun welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto facing Sugar Shane Mosley.
Top Rank’s Bob Arum and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who settled the numerous legal fights between the companies last month, are in the midst of hammering out a deal that will see Cotto (30-0, 25 KOs), the 26-year-old all-action Puerto Rican star, square off with longtime star Mosley (44-4, 37 KOs), who is 35 but fighting lately like a man 10 years younger.
The target date for the HBO PPV fight is Nov. 10 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where Cotto knocked out Zab Judah in the 11th round June 9 in front of a record crowd of 20,658. Arum and Schaefer met this week in Los Angeles to iron out their agreement.
“I met with Bob and we spent some time working on it,” Schaefer told ESPN.com. “I discussed it with Shane and [wife] Jin and I am waiting to hear back from them. But Bob and I have basically worked out a deal which is now subject to the approval of Shane and Jin.
“We’ve worked pretty hard on getting it done and I hope it’s going to happen. It’s one of the best fights in the ring and it’s two big names fighting each other. It’s like [Golden Boy boss] Oscar [De La Hoya] says — when you put two great fighters together, there is no loser. The sport of boxing and the fans are the winners.”
Arum told ESPN.com: “We’re getting very, very close. We’re very enthusiastic that we will get it done. I think it will be a sensational fight. Shane is still a great fighter and Shane believes he can win. If you’re building a real superstar like we are doing with Miguel, this is the kind of fight he must have like when we [Top Rank] put Oscar in with Ike Quartey and Pernell Whitaker. I think it could be the fight of the year. If Miguel didn’t look as good as he did against Judah, we wouldn’t consider making this fight. Shane is a hell of a fighter, an experienced guy, he’s fast and he takes a great punch. A victory over Shane is not going to be easy.”
Mosley’s first choice to fight this fall was Floyd Mayweather Jr., but he is negotiating with Ricky Hatton instead, a fight Golden Boy appears likely to wind up promoting because of an option it is said to have on Mayweather following his May 5 victory against De La Hoya.
“Mayweather doesn’t seem to want to fight me, so I’d love to fight Cotto,” Mosley told ESPN.com. “I think it’s an exciting fight. I hope we can get it done. I think the fans will love that one.”
Guzman-Soto is on
The detente between Golden Boy and Top Rank will continue to yield significant fights when junior lightweight titlist Joan Guzman (27-0, 17 KOs) of the Dominican Republic defends against Mexico’s Humberto Soto (42-5-2, 26 KOs) on Nov. 17 (HBO) at suburban San Diego’s Sycuan Resort, home of Guzman co-promoter Sycuan Ringside Promotions.
It’s a topflight match between two of the best in a loaded division that also includes Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao and Barrera.
Guzman is a former junior featherweight titleholder. Soto is undefeated since 2002, a stretch during which he is 19-0 with a no contest.
Golden Boy is so excited about the matchup that it combined two of its fall “Boxing After Dark” dates into one so HBO could afford the fight, according to Schaefer.
“We needed to have HBO step up a bit and I had to combine a couple of my dates,” he said. “I did that because it is an amazing matchup. Oscar is really committed to putting together the biggest and best fights, and this is another example. Instead of having two ‘Boxing After Dark’ cards with two good fights, we’d rather do one great fight. I don’t know who is going to win that fight and that is why fans want to see it.”
Arum said he is enjoying doing business with Schaefer now that the legal battles between companies are settled.
“Richard is the easiest guy to do business with of all the promoters because he’s a businessman and I’m a businessman,” Arum said. “We talk in shorthand and we don’t have to go through all the crap you have to do with other promoters.”
HBO has agreed to give Golden Boy a second live fight on the broadcast, which will probably involve hot prospect Abner Mares (13-0, 8 KOs), a 2004 Mexican Olympian. Mares, 22, has moved down to bantamweight from junior featherweight and recently hooked up with star trainer Nacho Beristain.
Berto Plans
Welterweight Andre Berto (18-0, 16 KOs), the 2006 ESPN.com prospect of the year, faces Cosme Rivera (30-10-2, 21 KOs) in this week’s “Friday Night Fights” (ESPN2) main event in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with an eye toward a more significant fight.
If Berto wins, he’s ticketed for an HBO fight Sept. 29 on the undercard of middleweight champ Jermain Taylor’s defense against Kelly Pavlik at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
“This is a huge fight for Andre,” promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com. “Everyone in boxing knows Cosme Rivera is a great trial horse for an up-and-coming fighter. He’s a rugged, tough fighter and he’s the best fighter Berto will have ever fought. And if Berto wins, he’ll then go on to fight the best fighter he’s ever fought on Sept. 29. We view these two fights as the end of the learning curve. After Sept. 29, if everything has gone well, our attitude is that he’s no longer a prospect, but a contender, and bring on the real fights.”
DiBella said his wish list for Berto on Sept. 29 includes top-15 contenders David Estrada (the No. 1 choice), Carlos Quintana and Richard Gutierrez.
