By Mark Vester
HBO appears to be working hard to showcase as many big fights as possible in 2007. Dan Rafael reports that HBO is currently in talks for two major fights to land on their network in the summer.
Originally, HBO had reserved June 2 for a potential clash between WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev and a returning Vitali Klitschko. After it was recently anounced that Klitschko would step aside and Maskaev would defend against his mandatory, Sam Peter, the network began talking with promoter Dan Goossen about showcasing the WBO welterweight title clash between champion Antonio Margarito and undefeated challenger Paul Williams.
The June 2 date makes sense for all parties, because WBC champ Miguel Cotto defends his title against Zab Judah on HBO pay-per-view the following week on June 9. Margarito, should he win, is scheduled to fight the winner of Cotto-Judah in a unification bout in the fall. Top Rank, Cotto's promoter, has future fight options on Judah if he pulls off the upset.
Contrary to rumors floating around the net, Shelly Finkel, the adviser of IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, told Rafael that a he hopes to secure the bout with former champ Lamon Brewster by next week. There were mild rumors of Brewster possibly facing Calvin Brock on the undercard of Briggs-Ibragimov, but they appear to be false. Should Finkel wrap up the deal as expected, the Klitschko-Brewster rematch would land on July 7 in Germany, with HBO televising the event live.