CANCUN–First, Edwin Valero turned down a fight with fellow unbeaten 130-pound world champion Joan Guzman. The Venezuelan slugger?s estimable promoter, Honda-San of Teiken would like to get Valero licensed in the United States, get in two fights on either Showtime or HBO and then send his power puncher in against Guzman. Manny Pacquiao or Juan Manuel Marquez.
Btw, a free Boxingconfidential.com tee-shirt will be going out to the Dan Rafael residence, hopefully in time for the holidays, as ESPN?s fight scribe confirmed Friday my scoop earlier this week that the Valero interests are inquiring about getting a license in Dickie Cole?s Great State of Texas. Hey, Danderoo, I am sure this was an oversight but you forgot to credit Boxingconfidential.com with that genuine scoop. Harmless error, Danno, I think not!
Now Guzman manager Jose Nunez has rejected a fight for his superb Dominican stylist against awesome Aussie Michael ?Rocky? Kastidis, a Feb. 9 date on HBO. Guzman just beat Humberto Soto on the cable network Nov. 18 and is in the midst of a holiday break. Less than two months notice did not give Guzman time enough to get ready for the brawling Kastidis.
Let?s make this clear: Valero does not fear Guzman and Guzman does not fear Kastidis. What Valero and Guzman share is the fear of not being paid properly or having enough time to get into the proper condition.
This is the second time this year that a Guzman-Kastidis matchup has fallen apart although this offer from Golden Boy was never accepted. Guzman and Kastidis signed to fight once but Guzman was forced to withdraw due to a hand injury.
The Feb. 9 HBO date is a mess, having been originally set for Juan Diaz?s mandatory WBO lightweight title defense against interim champ Kastidis. GBP won the purse bid with a $1.5 million offer and had an HBO fee of the same amount to back it up.
But Diaz?s contact dispute with promoter Don King has sent this plan into turmoil. King?s legal notice letters have gone out to all concerned parties.
As explained earlier on Boxingconfidential, Diaz manager Willie Savannah contends that they are completely free and clear of King come March 31. On his part, King maintains that Diaz owes him one more bout plus some future consideration and that the one bout does not include a mandatory defense of any of the three world title belts the Houston boxer, also an unbeaten, has in his collection.
Something?s got to break soon on this convoluted situation. Just an educated guess here but does Mr. De La Hoya dip into his piggy bank and give Uncle Don a hefty buyout?
Stay tuned?
