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VALERO-SOTO
Another fight on Arum's mind is a match between lightweight titlist Edwin Valero and junior lightweight beltholder Humberto Soto. If you've seen either guy fight, you know it has the makings of a terrific slugfest.
Arum wants it to be the co-feature on Nov. 14 on the Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao HBO PPV card at the MGM Grand.
"We believe we will be able to make Valero against Soto," Arum told me this week. "That's the fight I want to make."
A few weeks ago, Arum said he hoped to make the match eventually but would probably have each man in separate Nov. 14 bouts. Now, he's changed his mind.
"What changed was I didn't want to do separate opponents because then I have (expletive)," he said. "They should fight each other."
Arum had to convince Fernando Beltran, his partner on Soto and Valero, to support the fight. "My argument to him was, 'Look at the landscape. If Manny beats Cotto, the winner of Valero-Soto could very well be the next opponent for Manny,'" Arum said. "I think Manny fighting the winner at 140 pounds would still do 400,000 or 500,000 [pay-per-view] buys coming off this fight and that is enough to feed everybody."
Before Arum can finalize the fight, Valero needs to be licensed in Nevada. That process is expected to start next week, now that Nevada has amended a rule and will now allow fighters who have suffered a cerebral hemorrhage to apply for a license.
"If he's licensed, it looks like we can make the fight," Arum said. "To do it on the undercard of a big match like [Cotto-Pacquiao] is tremendous."
Another fight on Arum's mind is a match between lightweight titlist Edwin Valero and junior lightweight beltholder Humberto Soto. If you've seen either guy fight, you know it has the makings of a terrific slugfest.
Arum wants it to be the co-feature on Nov. 14 on the Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao HBO PPV card at the MGM Grand.
"We believe we will be able to make Valero against Soto," Arum told me this week. "That's the fight I want to make."
A few weeks ago, Arum said he hoped to make the match eventually but would probably have each man in separate Nov. 14 bouts. Now, he's changed his mind.
"What changed was I didn't want to do separate opponents because then I have (expletive)," he said. "They should fight each other."
Arum had to convince Fernando Beltran, his partner on Soto and Valero, to support the fight. "My argument to him was, 'Look at the landscape. If Manny beats Cotto, the winner of Valero-Soto could very well be the next opponent for Manny,'" Arum said. "I think Manny fighting the winner at 140 pounds would still do 400,000 or 500,000 [pay-per-view] buys coming off this fight and that is enough to feed everybody."
Before Arum can finalize the fight, Valero needs to be licensed in Nevada. That process is expected to start next week, now that Nevada has amended a rule and will now allow fighters who have suffered a cerebral hemorrhage to apply for a license.
"If he's licensed, it looks like we can make the fight," Arum said. "To do it on the undercard of a big match like [Cotto-Pacquiao] is tremendous."
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