By Rick Reeno

According to Bob Arum, the CEO of Top Rank, next Saturday's split-site pay-per-view is a likely springboard for a potential all-action fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Brandon Rios.

Both fighters will headline separate events on the HBO/Top Rank pay-per-view telecast. Brandon Rios (29-0-1, 22 KOs) will fight Richard Abril (17-2-1, 8 KOs) for the vacant WBA lightweight title at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, while Márquez (53-6-1, 39 KOs) faces Sergey Fedchenko (30-1, 13 KOs) for the WBO's interim-junior welterweight title at the new Arena Mexico in Mexico City.

If Marquez and Rios pull through as expected, Arum's company will attempt to finalize a deal to match them on July 14th at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

"That's the plan. We would like to have Rios against Marquez at Cowboys Stadium, if they win their fights on Saturday," Arum told BoxingScene.com.

Both Rios and Marquez are willing to fight each other in July.

The winner of Marquez-Rios could very well move on to a potential fight with Manny Pacquiao in the fall - but that possibility depends on the outcome of Pacquiao's fight against Timothy Bradley on June 9th at the MGM Grand.