By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com was advised that heavyweight contender Chris Arreola will indeed return on HBO on December 5 in the opening fight. Paul Williams returns action in the main event, with WBC junior middleweight champion Sergio Martinez as the frontrunner to become the opponent.

I've spoken to numerous parties, and the likelihood of David Tua becoming the opponent for Arreola is very slim. From what I've heard, an Arreola-Tua encounter would require a lot of money to put together. More money than HBO is likely to shell out at this point of the year.

Tua just made a $500,000 purse for wiping out Shane Cameron in two rounds. He won’t take an “opponent’s purse” for Arreola. I can safely say Tua would demand a decent six-figure sum. David Higgins of Duco is currently working on a deal to bring Tua back to New Zealand on December 12.