Arum clarifies situation with Mayweather and Morales/Pac

No matter what edict was passed down by the I Be Foolish, a rematch between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Zab Judah is not being considered by Top Rank, which promotes 'Pretty Boy'.

"That is correct," Bob Arum would tell MaxBoxing on Wednesday afternoon from his offices in Las Vegas.

"I'm not surprised, obviously they've been doing nutty things and this is completely preposterous," he would say of the IBF's recent ruling that called for an immediate rematch of the April 8th bout that was marred by the corner misconduct of Roger Mayweather and Yoel Judah in the 10th frame of Mayweather’s clear unanimous decision victory.

"It really does a disservice for boxing because here you have the Nevada Commission, in effect, ruling correctly one way, and this is an attempt on their part to overturn it. And that's wrong."

Mayweather has five days to respond to the IBF. There's a good chance he might vacate the belt.

"He was going to drop it anyways, I think," said Arum.

The fight the veteran promoter is focusing in on is an August 12th bout against WBO welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

"Margarito has completely agreed to terms. Mayweather has a proposal in accordance with terms that he was demanding - which he came up with - an $8 million guarantee and the ball’s in his court and it's awaiting it's signature," said Arum, who pointed out that Mayweather would also get a piece of the upside should that bout hit certain pay-per-view goals. "Whether he'll sign it or not, that I don't know."

Margarito's team was in Las Vegas the past few days, finalizing their end of the deal.

"We're ready to go August the 12th," said Margarito's co-manager Sergio Diaz. "We're here in Vegas right now and we came to terms and we're on board."

And the chances of Mayweather putting his Hancock on the dotted line?

"We don't know," Diaz admitted, "Top Rank says, 'You guys are on board. Now it's Mayweather.' So the good thing is, we're on board. We were on since the beginning so
that's what we came to do here and take care of business. Now we're waiting for Floyd."

As for a deadline to make this deal, Arum says, "There's a little bit of time but I really would hope to get it done one way or the other by the end of the week."

There is a theory floating out there that perhaps Mayweather is awaiting the outcome of Oscar De La Hoya's bout against Ricardo Mayorga on May 6th to fully assess his options.

So what does Arum think of the possibility of a 'Pretty Boy' versus 'Golden Boy' face-off? "I don't think very good," he said."I've talked with Floyd about what he wants for that fight and who's going to guarantee it? Floyd is going to want somewhat near parity with Oscar and Oscar's now saying that he's not going to fight him. So I don't know; Oscar could have his hands full with Mayorga."

Then there’s always the issue of the acrimonious relationship between Arum and Golden Boy Promotions.

So if he doesn't face Margarito and doesn't get De La Hoya, as he wishes, then what?

"He'll have to sit on the sideline until the latter part of the year and see who's available," Arum states. "One of the problems that he does have is he wants a lot of money for his fights. But the opponents want money, also."

In his current deal with Top Rank and HBO, Mayweather is only slated for pay-per-view events.

As for other options, the chances of a showdown with Ricky Hatton in 2006 are, "Slim and none," according to Arum. "Because Hatton isn't looking to fight until next year and besides that, it's not a big money fight. I mean Hatton, once he takes the English rights,
which he would insist on doing, Hatton doesn't really bring much to the table."

It looks like Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas are destined to engage in a return bout in mid-July.

"And let's assume Mosley wins and a Mosley-Mayweather fight’s a possibility," surmised Arum, "Well, that's not going to happen because Mosley's going to want to be compensated and the fight’s not that big to compensate Floyd and what he's demanding."

Miguel Cotto, who fights Paulie Malignaggi on June 10th, could face Jose Luis Castillo - should he get past Diego Corrales on June 3rd - in November.

So is Margarito the biggest non-De La Hoya payday out there for Mayweather as we speak?

"That's what HBO told me," said Arum.

So consider this a done deal then. Because surely, the best boxer since Muhammad Ali must be salivating at the thought of a possible $10 million payday against a slow, unskilled, ponderous fighter like Margarito, right?

"Unless," pointed out Arum, who promotes both boxers, "he has so much of a lack of confidence in his ability to beat Margarito. He's a pretty good boxing guy, Floyd."
PLAN B

On Wednesday afternoon, the WBC informed Arum that their Board of Governors had voted on a 70/30 split of purses when Hasim Rahman defends his belt against Oleg Maskaev.

"If Floyd doesn't go on the 12th, then I'll do the Rahman-Maskaev fight on that date as a pay-per-view card with Margarito on the card. I'll build up my usual pay-per-view card," said Arum.

THE RUBBERMATCH

Arum says of the prospect of Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales breaking their deadlock: "Morales has agreed to go at 130 pounds. We're going to do it at 130 and we're going to do it in October or November."

http://www.maxboxing.com/Kim/Kim042006.asp