By Mark Vester

According to Top Rank head Bob Arum, a deal has been reached for WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (34-0, 30 KOs) to face WBO welterweight champion Paul Williams (34-1, 25 KOs) on September 27 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Arum tells MaxBoxing/BoxingScene.com's Steve Kim that he reached a deal with Williams' promoter Dan Goossen, but was still optimistic about the fighting being finalized.

"I'm dealing with Goossen, it's a deal. But I'm not sure," said Arum. "You never know if it's a deal. I think there is a deal. But if my life depended on it, I wouldn't swear to it. With Goossen, you're never quite sure."

If the deal gets done, Williams, who is listed as 6'1, but most say is 6'2 or '6'3, would move up in weight by 13-pounds to meet Pavlik at 160.

A variety of options were exhausted while trying to secure a September opponent. Arums says WBC junior middleweight champion Sergio Mora priced himself out, as did Winky Wright. Williams was initially, according to Arum, demanding as much as $2.5 million for the fight. Either he came down quite a bit or HBO offered more money to make it happen. Pavlik's manager Cameron Dunkin recently told Dan Rafael that HBO had a lot of interest in a Pavlik-Williams fight.

"I think it's a hard style and a tough fight, but it's a good fight," Dunkin said. "Kelly will have to be really, really prepared. Paul Williams is a tough fighter. He's probably better suited for (middleweight) than welterweight anyway. He's not a little guy moving up. I like the fight, HBO likes the fight."

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