How about an update on some fighters and fights being discussed?
MOSLEY-BERTO or MOSLEY-CLOTTEY
Let’s start with welterweight champ Shane Mosley, whose desperate search for a fall opponent has been agonizing. Talks have centered on titlist Andre Berto. More recently, former titleholder Joshua Clottey entered the picture.
Although Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and Berto promoter Lou DiBella both told me they have the structure of a deal in place, they just don’t have enough money from HBO, which offered about $3.2 million. That, of course, could change if the Kelly Pavlik-Paul Williams fight is not rescheduled before the end of the year because HBO would have a few bucks laying around from that unused $3.75 million it put up, which could help close the gap on Mosley-Berto.
DiBella isn’t holding his breath, which is why he has a deal in place for Berto to unify belts with Isaac Hlatshwayo as a reasonable backup plan. However, DiBella can’t get an answer on the fight from HBO and he told me he needs to know early next week or he’ll lose Hlatshwayo, who is under his own time constraints from the IBF as far as asking for an exception to face Berto.
Schaefer, meanwhile, told me that Mosley is fighting Dec. 5 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, be it against Berto or Clottey.
“I have confirmation [from HBO] and I locked in Dec. 5 for Shane at the MGM,” Schaefer said. “We definitely have Shane Mosley from the MGM on the fifth. We are discussing if it will be Berto or Clottey. I talked to Bob Arum about Clottey and I’m still having conversations with Lou about Berto.”
Dec. 5 looked like a potential date to reschedule Pavlik-Williams, but Schaefer insisted that it belongs to Mosley.
“I’m sorry Pavlik-Williams was postponed, but Shane wanted to fight earlier in the year and HBO said the earliest they could do it was December, so I talked to Shane and convinced him to wait until December,” Schaefer said. “I’m not going to get off that date. That’s not right. You don’t play those games. Pavlik-Williams is a great fight, but it’s not my problem that it got postponed. The MGM moved things around to accommodate us.”
Schaefer said if he can’t find more money to finish the Berto fight, it would take less money to finalize Clottey.
“I can make a deal with Bob, no problem,” he said. “They’re willing. I can get that fight done in an hour. The fact is Shane Mosley is fighting Dec. 5.”
Arum told me that Clottey will take the fight and that they’re just waiting for Schaefer to say the word.
“Clottey has accepted the fight and for reasonable money for whenever the date happens to be,” Arum said.
ADAMEK-HOPKINS
The other star fighter Schaefer is trying to line something up for is light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins. While Hopkins is out there spouting off about a possible fight with Williams (don’t hold your breath) in the event the Pavlik fight is not rescheduled, and continues to jaw back and forth with Roy Jones for about the 10th year in a row about a rematch (that ship has sailed), the real meat and potatoes talks center on a showdown with cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek, whom Hopkins vociferously called out in February, saying he wanted a historically significant fight. This would be one because a Hopkins victory would give him a legitimate championship in a third weight class.
According to Schaefer and Main Events chief Kathy Duva, Adamek’s promoter, the fight can be made. But like Mosley-Berto, they need a bit more money from HBO to get it done. I’m told HBO is offering $3 millionish for the fight and that Hopkins wants HBO to up the offer to $3.5 million.
“HBO came back with a number and it was not acceptable,” Schaefer said. “Kathy and I have negotiated the percentage split, but it only works if HBO comes up with the number and HBO is telling me they cannot commit to any number until they lock in their budget for next year. [HBO senior vice president] Kery Davis said he’ll get back to me. So far, he hasn’t.”
After hearing about comments from Hopkins saying that the reason he thought the deal wasn’t completed yet was because Duva was looking to protect her company’s No. 1 fighter and attraction, Duva contacted me.
She said that was simply not true. She said Main Events “has agreed to Golden Boy’s terms. We have agreed on all the material terms — the split, the site, everything.”
The date would be Jan. 30 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., where Adamek has been drawing crowds for his past few fights. The split between Hopkins — who turns 45 on Jan. 15 — and Adamek would be approximately 60-40 in Hopkins’ favor.
“Bernard will only agree to a deal if we can get the number,” Schaefer said. “If HBO comes to that number then I believe we have a deal. But if HBO doesn’t come up with the number, we don’t have a deal.”
“Hopkins won’t commit to the fight because he wants more money from HBO and HBO is not yet prepared to give him what he wants,” Duva said. “They have told us that they are waiting on their 2010 budget. I understand why we are being held up. But I start to have a problem when Hopkins says we are ducking him. We have agreed to terms. He hasn’t. We would love to do the fight. This would be so huge.”
Most likely, the fight can be made when HBO Sports gets its budget parameters for next year, but it probably has to be sooner than later because Main Events and Adamek don’t want to be left without a fight in the event HBO doesn’t come through.
That’s why Ziggy Rozalski, Main Events’ Polish partner on Adamek, continues to work on a proposed Polish super fight between Adamek and heavyweight misfit Andrew Golota.
“I can’t ask my guy to cancel a proposed fight for October until we know we have a fight with Hopkins,” Duva said. “At some point there will be a point of no return. The Golota fight is not done, but plans are in motion. It’s not what I want to do, but if there is no Hopkins fight, that’s how Tomasz can make money.”
The other issue Duva faces is from the IBF. Adamek is the lineal and Ring magazine champion (in other words, the real champion), but he also holds the IBF title and has a mandatory due with former titlist Steve Cunningham, whom he beat in one of 2008’s best fights.
According to Duva, Cunningham left longtime promoter Don King, claiming breach of contract (like most of the fighters who dump King). She said Main Events is talking to Cunningham and they are planning to work together.
She said Cunningham and Adamek understand there is no television money available until early next year to make their rematch, so they’re willing to wait. If Adamek-Hopkins is finalized, Adamek would give up his IBF belt and Cunningham would fight for the vacant title in early 2010.
“I can either make a deal for Cunningham to fight Adamek or for Adamek to fight Hopkins and Cunningham can fight for a vacant title,” Duva said. “Everyone is OK with that.”
But she needs an answer from HBO.
Incidentally, Duva said if Adamek-Hopkins is finalized she’d like to match Cunningham with Matt Godfrey, the next available contender, for the vacant belt on the Jan. 30 HBO undercard.
“I think putting Cunningham on the undercard makes a lot of sense. He’s an action fighter,” she said. “He was in a great fight with Adamek.”
Duva also said she and promoter Russell Peltz are going to work together on his hot Philadelphia welterweight prospect Mike Jones, whom she envisions on a “Boxing After Dark” undercard with Cunningham-Godfrey on top if it can’t be made for an Adamek-Hopkins undercard.
“Mike Jones is the kind of prospect we want to work with,” said Duva, who has a close relationship with Peltz. “HBO seems to finally be interested in him.”
If Adamek-Hopkins does not come off, Duva said HBO has indicated that it would be interested in doing the Adamek-Cunningham rematch.
VALERO-SOTO
Another fight on Arum’s mind is a match between lightweight titlist Edwin Valero and junior lightweight beltholder Humberto Soto. If you’ve seen either guy fight, you know it has the makings of a terrific slugfest.
Arum wants it to be the co-feature on Nov. 14 on the Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao HBO PPV card at the MGM Grand.
“We believe we will be able to make Valero against Soto,” Arum told me this week. “That’s the fight I want to make.”
A few weeks ago, Arum said he hoped to make the match eventually but would probably have each man in separate Nov. 14 bouts. Now, he’s changed his mind.
“What changed was I didn’t want to do separate opponents because then I have (expletive),” he said. “They should fight each other.”
Arum had to convince Fernando Beltran, his partner on Soto and Valero, to support the fight. “My argument to him was, ‘Look at the landscape. If Manny beats Cotto, the winner of Valero-Soto could very well be the next opponent for Manny,'” Arum said. “I think Manny fighting the winner at 140 pounds would still do 400,000 or 500,000 [pay-per-view] buys coming off this fight and that is enough to feed everybody.”
Before Arum can finalize the fight, Valero needs to be licensed in Nevada. That process is expected to start next week, now that Nevada has amended a rule and will now allow fighters who have suffered a cerebral hemorrhage to apply for a license.
“If he’s licensed, it looks like we can make the fight,” Arum said. “To do it on the undercard of a big match like [Cotto-Pacquiao] is tremendous.”
