By Ryan Maquiñana

After speaking with promoter Dominic Pesoli, the manager of Edner Cherry gave his side of the story, informing BoxingScene.com that his fighter would not be facing Golden Boy-promoted junior lightweight contender Vicente Escobedo on May 12 in Woodland.

“If [Golden Boy] talked to Dominic, then they talked to Dominic, but he didn’t mention anything to me about it until Wednesday morning,” Pat Doljanin said.  “I was talking to Dom earlier, and he says, ‘What about Escobedo?’  I told him, ‘It would be a great fight, but we’re not interested.’ ”

Sources close to the situation had previously advised BoxingScene that Cherry (30-6-1, 16 KOs) was next in line to face Escobedo (25-3, 15 KOs)—currently ranked No. 1 in the WBO—with the winner becoming a prime candidate to face WBO 130-pound champion Adrien Broner sometime in the late summer or early fall.  Doljanin clarified his team’s stance.

“They did talk to us about fighting Broner for the May fight,” he said.  “That much I can tell you. But they were just overtures. I wanted something meaningful in writing, and it didn’t happen.”

Cherry, an explosive slugger and former world title challenger at junior welterweight, captured a majority decision victory over Juan Carlos Martinez last Saturday in the latest edition of TeleFutura’s Solo Boxeo, the same franchise that will handle the May 12 broadcast.

“We’ve got our own agenda with what we want to do,” Doljanin said.  “Edgar Cherry’s fought everybody. He’s paid his dues, we want to get him sharper, and now we’re looking for fights that make sense.”

Ryan Maquiñana writes a weekly column for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (CSNBayArea.com). He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com , check out his blog at norcalboxing.net or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.