By Lem Satterfield

Top Rank's CEO, Bob Arum, says HBO will not financially assist Golden Boy Promotions with putting together a fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz. Golden Boy's CEO, Richard Schaefer, was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as stating that "HBO would be on board" to help finance Ortiz-Marquez.

Ortiz is one possibility for Golden Boy to match a revised offer that Marquez received to face Manny Pacquiao in a trilogy bout on November 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The offer for Pacquiao includes a $5 million dollar guarantee with a pay-per-view upside, a rematch clause with a $10 million dollar guarantee, and a catch-weight of 144-pounds.

Pursuant to an expired promotional agreement, Marquez must provide Golden Boy with the opportunity to match Top Rank's offer. Schaefer was previously planning to offer Marquez a fight with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, but Top Rank's revised offer, with the catch-weight of 144, rules Alvarez out.

According to Arum, HBO reached out to advise him of their position with respect to Schaefer's comments to The Times.

"When Richard said that HBO was going to finance him and so forth, that's just not true. You can check with HBO. They are not going to finance the Marquez-Ortiz fight. That's just not true. I got calls from HBO saying categorically that wasn't true," Arum told BoxingScene.com.