By Rick Reeno

2009 is shaping up to be a good year for boxing. With Antonio Margarito-Shane Mosley going on 1/24, a possible Vic Darchinyan-Jorge Arce clash on 2/7, Alfredo Angulo-Ricardo Mayorga + Nate Campbell-Ali Funeka on 2/14 and a possible Miguel Cotto/Kelly Pavlik doubleheader on 2/21 - the hits just keep on coming.

Andre Berto's mandatory defense of the WBC welterweight title against Luis Collazo is coming along. There is an agreement in principle between promoters Don King and Lou DiBella. The only issue holding up the deal from being finalized is coming from the Collazo side. Collazo wants more money and King is trying his best to keep the fight from crumbling. I still expect a deal to be reached sooner than later. The fight is almost a lock to land on HBO, with January 17 and January 31 as the two working dates.

DiBella would like to place WBC interim-junior middleweight champion Sergio Martinez in the co-feature position to Berto-Collazo. The guys in the back at HBO were very impressed with Martinez when he stopped Alex Bunema in the opening fight of their October 4 tripleheader.There is also a December 1 purse bid scheduled for Martinez's title shot against full champion Vernon Forrest.

DiBella and Sampson Lewkowicz, who advises Martinez, made a $250,000 offer to Sergio Mora to fight Martinez in the co-feature. A good offer when you consider that Mora was dominated in his last ring appearance against Vernon Forrest. Mora turned the offer down. DiBella and Lewkowicz were in disbelief. Seriously, what else did they expect from a guy who was unhappy with the fight location for a title shot against Jermain Taylor, turning down the "seven-figure payday" when DiBella wouldn't move the fight to a different location.

"He is no longer Sergio Mora. He is Sergio Moron. He will never be on HBO or Showtime again. The only thing he can do is continue fighting on "The Contender." He is a pussy, not a champion. If he was a man, he would have stepped up the plate to fight Sergio Martinez," Lewkowicz said.