Whether Floyd Mayweather Jr. fights Antonio Margarito or not, Margarito will defend his title Oct. 7 in a pay-per-view fight at Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com.
"I am ready to go with a Margarito fight and to back it up with a great undercard," Arum said.
Without Mayweather or Wright, Arum's next choice as the opponent is Carlos Quintana, who put on an impressive performance last week in outpointing hot prospect Joel "Love Child" Julio on HBO.
"I like that one because it's a Mexican vs. Puerto Rican match, which fans love," Arum said. "We've been talking to Quintana's people and they are interested."
The win against Julio made Quintana the mandatory for winner another welterweight title bout between Ricky Hatton and Oktay Urkal. However, Quintana is interested in fighting Margarito.
"A Margarito fight would be something we would consider strongly," said Ron Katz of Quintana promoter Northeast Promotions. "Our first priority is to fight Hatton or Urkal. We have to wait to see what develops with that situation, but Margarito is something we would be open to do."
Arum said Joshua Clottey, whose contract he just bought from Lou DiBella, is a more remote possibility to face Margarito.
Arum, who has the arena on hold as well as support from casino partners Caesars Palace and the Wynn resort, said he offered Winky Wright $4 million to fight Margarito Oct. 7 in a junior middleweight fight, but Wright turned it down because he wanted the same $8 million Arum has offered Mayweather.
"He doesn't want to do it because he is insulted because it is not what I offered Mayweather," Arum said. "Well the fights aren't the same, and that's still more money than Winky made to fight Jermain Taylor."
Mayweather turned down a Margarito fight in order to pursue a megafight with Oscar De La Hoya. But now that De La Hoya won't fight again until at least next spring, Arum said he is disappointed that Mayweather won't take the fight.
Mayweather
"I offered him $8 million with an upside [of the pay-per-view revenue], which is by far the most he ever got," Arum said. "He just doesn't want to fight Margarito even though it is the most money and the most makeable fight. I didn't ask for options or futures. It's a one-off, so that can't be the issue. He just doesn't want to fight Margarito and I can't blame him. He's bigger and stronger than this kid, and he will eventually catch him and hurt him. That why they're afraid of Margarito."
Mayweather could be awaiting the outcome of the July 15 Shane Mosley-Fernando Vargas rematch because another Mosley victory could pave the way to a Mayweather-Mosley fight, which would be big.
However, Arum is skeptical.
"No. 1, Mosley has to win and not be damaged," he said. "And he has to agree to go back to training. There's a very short window there and Shane hasn't agreed to any of those things.
"Then how much money is there in that fight? Is there more than a Margarito fight? Yes. But in a Margarito fight, Floyd is taking the bulk of the money. Mosley isn't going to settle for less than half, so Floyd would make less money. And what happens if Mosley isn't available, or he loses, or he gets injured or just doesn't want the fight? What will Mayweather do for the rest of the year? Then he can't fight early next year early because he's waiting to see what Oscar does.
"So Mr. Pound For Pound is looking at a situation where he doesn't fight for a year, and at his age and status, that is criminal. He loses a year. How many years does he have? Maybe five. At his weight, they don't go past 35.
"Giving Floyd $8 million for a Margarito fight is risky for me anyway, but I am willing to take the risk. He has no excuse for not fighting the guy. He just doesn't want to fight the guy."
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