By Mark Vester
It appears that a Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Manny Pacquiao rematch was not the only fight being discussed by Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions.
Arum, who's been talking about a clash between Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya for the last few weeks, has not given up on the fight. The gap in weight almost makes the bout an impossible one to make. Pacquiao began his career at 106-pounds and is currently fighting at 130. De La Hoya has been fighting at 154 and 160 for the last few years. The fight, if it ever happens, is eyed for next September at 147-pounds. The probability of the bout came to light when Pacquiao weighed close to the welterweight limit as he entered the ring for his rematch win over Marco Antonio Barrera in October.
Golden Boy and Top Rank officially announced the Marquez-Pacquiao rematch on Thursday, scheduled to take place on March 15 in Las Vegas. Marquez will be defending the WBC super featherweight title.
Arum told writer Dan Rafael that WBC lightweight champion David Diaz will defend his title on the undercard. Should Pacquiao and Diaz both win, they will be matched in July. Should Pacquiao beat Diaz for the lightweight title, Arum wants to match him against De La Hoya in September, slated to be Oscar's farewell fight.
We've heard Arum talking about a De La Hoya-Pacquiao bout for the last two weeks, and many have doubted the seriousness of such a fight. For the first time, Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, confirmed the talks to Rafael. Both fighters initially took the possibility of fighting one another as a joke.
"That's certainly a possibility," Schaefer said. "Bob and me did discuss it. He's discussed it with Manny and I have discussed it with Oscar. At first they were both laughing but each guy said [of the other], 'Is he serious?' Then they stopped laughing when they found out that the other guy was serious. Both guys are open to it."
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