By Mark Vester
Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum is a busy man as of late. Currently, the promoter is trying to put together a super fight between WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito and middleweight Winky Wright, while still trying to lure Floyd Mayweather, Jr. into a bout with Margarito. Arum told the Grand Rapids-Press that he feels Mayweather is legititmately scared of Margarito and there is no reason the pound-for-pound king should not take the fight. Arum put an $8 million dollar offer on the table for Mayweather to face Margarito in October, an offer that Arum says will not be there for much longer.
"He can say whatever he wants but he's terrified of Margarito. That's the only explanation. It would be his biggest purse ever, by far," Arum said. "So if he weren't terrified, he would go ahead with the fight and pick up the $8 million, then try to make the fight with De La Hoya, right?"
Arum knows that Mayweather has a few other options for his next bout, but some of them are not pay-per-view caliber fights and none of the fighters will allow Mayweather to grab such as high majority of the purse split, like the current offer Arum has given him for Margarito.
"I suppose Mayweather could go fight Baldomir, if Baldomir beats Gatti, but that's no pay-per-view fight. "These opponents aren't in the business of fighting Mayweather and letting him have all the money. I don't know what he's thinking, but I would say there's a very good possibility he won't fight again this year."