By Miguel Rivera
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum has continued his discussions with manager/adviser Al Haymon to match their fighters in 2017.
Arum's company is on track to produce and distribute their first major pay-per-view event on November 5 in Las Vegas, headlined by the clash between Manny Pacquiao and Jessie Vargas at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Arum and Haymon are very interested in matching Top Rank fighters against Haymon's vast stable - with most of them fighting under the Premier Boxing Champions banner.
"We have spoken and we are looking at the possibilities that exist to address some of the fighters from our company with some of his for next year. He's a good manager," Arum told ESPN Deportes.
Arum and Haymon have been at odds for years, but in May they settled an antitrust lawsuit - filed by Top Rank against Haymon - and now the two of them are on very friendly terms.
For several years Arum's stable has exclusively appeared on HBO, but now he's branching out and has interest in showcasing some of his talent on other networks like HBO's main rival, Showtime.
"I have a meeting with Stephen Espinoza and Showtime's people next week," Arum said. "We hope that next year they will begin with a new schedule. I honestly do not know why there have been no significant events [on their network this year], but I think that will change next year," Arum predicted.
"I'm in the business of promoting events, making boxing matches. We are not with signed to any networks. Anyone who is interested in our content, believe me I will be happy to sell it. We will continue doing events with HBO, like the fight with Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters (November 26). We also have a date in January for Terence Crawford with them. But we are open to talk to Showtime or anyone else who is interested in our content."