By Rey Danseco
THERE will be a third round of negotiations between Don King and Gabriel “Bebot” Elorde Jr. for a possible co-promotional agreement on Filipino fighters like world rated Juanito Rubillar, BJ Dolorosa and Raymond Sermona among others.
Elorde and his wife Arlene Olmos-Elorde returned to Los Angeles, California Friday after the two-night and three-day stay at the Best Western Deerfield Beach Hotel and talking with King Thursday and Friday.
The top Filipino promoter refused to sign anything based on King’s intial offer agreement but both parties are hoping to get the deal done on June 6 in Cancun, Mexico where Elorde’s fighters Rubillar and Dolorosa take on Omar Nino Romero and Wilbert Uicab, respectively, at Parque Xcaret.
After an overnight rest at former Philippine super featherweight champion Ramon Elorde’s residence in Rowland Heights, the couple left for Philadelphia and stays at Arlene sister’s house for a 10-day vacation before going back to California on June 2 in preparation for his flight on the next day to Cancun.
“Seems like, the contract with Don King will be done. We are on the process of revisions (of some terms and conditions in the promotional agreements) and I hope both parties will agree,” Elorde told Bagong Tiktik Sports and BoxingScene.com in a telephone interview upon his arrival in Philadelphia Sunday (Monday in Manila).
“We’re now here in Philadelphia with Arlene’s sister,” said Elorde. “Don wants to resume our talks in Cancun, Mexico on June 6 during the fight between Juanito and Nino.”
King and Elorde have known each other for a long time. In the late 1990s, they signed a promotional agreement involving Carmelo Caceres and the Jamili brothers, Reynante and Eric.
Without King’s knowledge on the negotiations, Reynante fought Erik Morales in a mandatory bout in Tijuana, Mexico for the WBC super bantamweight title in Sept. 1999.
Reynante, then the OPBF champion, hurt Morales in the fifth round but the future legendary fighter stopped his top ranked challenger in the sixth.
Eric put his WBO minimumweight title on the line against Kermin Guardia under King’s promotion in 1998 at Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas.
The Filipino champion was forced to arrive in the United States with few days before the fight, that’s why he was not yet acclimatized to the time. Guardia detehroned Jamili with fifth round knockout and defended the belt in a rematch in his next bout in March 1999 with unanimous decision win in Miami.