By Rick Reeno
The negotiations continue between the camps of Kelly Pavlik, Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez. Because of the politics involved, no deal is on the horizon for any combination of the three guys. BoxingScene.com spoke with Top Rank's vice president Carl Moretti on Saturday morning, who told this reporter that Pavlik-Martinez is still an option they are exploring but the two sides were far from an agreement. Top Rank is still waiting on available dates from Atlantic City to get a better idea on when Pavlik can return.
"We've had talks but we're not even close," Moretti said.
The problem in this situation is HBO's preference to make a fight between Pavlik and Williams, or a rematch between Williams and Martinez. A source inside the network advised BoxingScene that HBO views Pavlik-Martinez as a "last resort" combination because matching those two fighters would leave Williams without an opponent [or at least one that HBO prefers].
Like Top Rank, Martinez's promoter Lou DiBella has also been given the impression that HBO prefers Pavlik or Martinez vs. Williams.
"Anyone who wouldn't want to see Pavlik vs. Martinez doesn't know a f**king thing about boxing. After his third impressive performance on HBO, including a fight with Paul Williams which could have easily been awarded the fight of the year, I wish people would stop treating him like an opponent. He's a great champion and a pound for poond kind of guy," DiBella told BoxingScene.
Between the two possibilities, Williams-Martinez is an easier fight to make. Williams' side is standing firm with their demand for a 50-50 split on a potential Pavlik fight. Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum told BoxingScene last week that a 50-50 split will "never happen."
HBO's PPV Decisions
The bigwigs at HBO are staying quiet on which pay-per-view they will back on March 13. Manny Pacquiao defends his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. On the same night, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is scheduled for action at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Mayweather's potential opponents for the March date include Paulie Malignaggi, Kermit Cintron, Timothy Bradley and Nate Campbell. Time is quickly running out. BoxingScene has spoken with one person or another in connection with the four potential opponents and there are no serious negotiations that are ongoing to finalize a deal with any of the four names.
DiBella, who promotes Malignaggi and Cintron, told BoxingScene on Saturday that no serious discussions have taken place with Golden Boy Promotions in connection with a Mayweather fight.
Top Rank are moving forward with Pacquiao-Clottey, with or without HBO. There some on the inside who believe HBO is waiting for Golden Boy Promotions to present Mayweather's finalized opponent before making their final decision - but multiple sources have indicated to BoxingScene that HBO is leaning in the direction of the Pacquaio-Clottey pay-per-view.
Another topic is April 17 in Las Vegas, the pay-per-view date for the Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones Jr. rematch. I've heard HBO has yet to make a final decision with respect to this event. The date of April 17 was the target for Lucian Bute's next fight on the network. A member of Bute's team told BoxingScene on Friday that HBO has not yet informed them of a change on the date.
If Hopkins-Jones moves forward on 4/17, it's going to face some stiff competiton from Showtime, who have a super middleweight doubleheader scheduled for the same night. Carl Froch will defend his WBC title against Mikke Kessler and Andre Ward defends his WBA title against the winner of the upcoming Allan Green/Sakio Bika bout on February 5.
