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Winky prices himself out of Pavlik fight; Arum negotiating a fight with Williams
ESPN - Arum scraps offer to Mora, now in Pavlik-Williams fight talks - Boxing
Arum scraps offer to Mora, now in Pavlik-Williams fight talks
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Unable to agree on financial terms, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum withdrew an offer he made to junior middleweight titleholder Sergio Mora to challenge middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in the fall, instead turning his attention Thursday to making a deal with Paul Williams, a welterweight titleholder who would move up in weight for the title shot.
If Pavlik-Williams is made, it would take place Sept. 27 on HBO, Arum told ESPN.com, adding that the site would probably be Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. That is where Pavlik has drawn good crowds and where he won the title last fall by knocking out Jermain Taylor and where he defended it for the first time June 7 with a third-round knockout of Gary Lockett.
Since the prospect of a fight between Pavlik (34-0, 30 KOs) and light heavyweight and super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe evaporated a couple of weeks ago, when Calzaghe declared his intention to instead face Roy Jones Jr., Arum has been in talks with Mora promoter Jeff Wald of the Tournament of Contenders.
However, they could not agree on the money. Arum offered $1.2 million and Wald countered with $1.5 million, they both told ESPN.com.
Mora (21-0-1, 5 KOs), the first-season of "The Contender," defeated Vernon Forrest to claim a 154-pound title last month but was contractually obligated to give him a rematch. In order for Forrest and promoter Gary Shaw to allow Mora to bypass an immediate rematch, Wald would have had to pay them an undisclosed amount to step aside. Mora and Wald didn't think Arum's offer was enough for them to be able to satisfy the step-aside payment and themselves. Arum wouldn't go any higher and withdrew his offer Wednesday.
"It's a business," Wald said. "We need to honor obligations we made to Forrest and Shaw and there needed to be step-aside money acceptable to everyone. But we weren't there. I told that to Bob and he withdrew the offer. It wasn't acrimonious at all. They made an offer and I came back with what I needed and then they came back and they withdrew the offer, which is his prerogative. We would have taken the money Bob offered if we didn't have this situation [with Forrest] to deal with."
Said Arum: "Between what Mora wanted and the amounts that had to go to these other people like Shaw and Forrest, the deal was not doable. We're not mad. Jeff was a gentleman. It just didn't work out. He needed a certain amount of money based on the economics and I could not give that kind of money based on the economics."
So what's next for Mora, who also had a possible fight with Shane Mosley fall through for the same reason?
"I guess we start negotiating money for a rematch with Vernon Forrest," Wald said.
Mora also has a mandatory obligation to Sergio Martinez, a fight that the WBC has ordered.
"I don't want to discuss that yet," Wald said.
Arum has talked about several fall opponents for Pavlik. Besides Mora, there was Calzaghe and lesser bouts with fringe contenders John Duddy and Marco Antonio Rubio, neither of which HBO or Showtime were interested in as network fights or pay-per-view bouts.
So now Arum is talking with Dan Goossen, Williams' promoter.
"With Williams, I am hopeful," Arum said. "I'm talking to Goossen and [HBO senior vice president] Kery [Davis] is trying to be helpful."
But it is a hard deal to make because of the financial expectations of both sides. At one point, Goossen asked for $2.5 million, which is as much as Pavlik earned for the Lockett fight. Still, Goossen was hopeful they could strike a deal.
"I don't like to talk too much about possibilities, but we have interest in the fight, otherwise we wouldn't be pursuing it," Goossen said. "Hopefully, we can come to an agreement to get it done. Pavlik has been one of the guys on the top of the wish list for Paul and [trainer] George [Peterson]. It's always great when you can have a fight of this magnitude on HBO. It's a big fight for the industry. It's two young men in their primes."
Williams, who defeated Antonio Margarito to win a welterweight belt last summer, lost it in his first defense when Carlos Quintana scored a major upset decision win Feb. 9. However, in the immediate rematch, Williams blew him away in the first round to retain the belt last month.
At 6-foot-1, Williams (34-1, 25 KOs) has struggled to make 147 pounds and might be better suited to fight at middleweight. He would be similar in size to the 6-2 Pavlik.
It's a fight that appeals to Pavlik manager Cameron Dunkin.
"I think it's a hard style and a tough fight, but it's a good fight," Dunkin said. "Kelly will have to be really, really prepared. Paul Williams is a tough fighter. He's probably better suited for (160 pounds) than welterweight anyway. He's not a little guy moving up. I like the fight, HBO likes the fight, but nothing is done."
Arum added that he would also be paying attention to Saturday's middleweight title bout in Germany, where beltholder Felix Sturm (29-2-1, 13 KOs) meets American Randy Griffin (24-1-3, 12 KOs) in a rematch of their draw last fall.
"Right now we're talking about Williams, but there's a fight this weekend in Germany," Arum said. "I know they won't give me Sturm [because of the money he generates there], but I'm sure I could make a deal for Griffin if he wins."
Arum said he had investigated a possible Pavlik-Winky Wright fight, but Wright's financial demands were "way too high."
"The economy is struggling. It's not like the good old days, but Winky Wright doesn't want to know that," Arum said. "It would be a great fight and so forth, but when you pay Winky Wright there's nothing left for anybody else. You can't afford Winky Wright. We'd love to fight him, but we don't have the money for it.
"They laughed at my offer and I offered him in the neighborhood of what I offered Mora. And that fight would have been on pay-per-view, so if it was a hit, he would make a lot more money. But I can't manufacture money out of the sky for Winky Wright."
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