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Golden Boy Promotions has put a hold on July 7 at Anaheim's Honda Center for former junior-welterweight champion Amir Khan's next fight, company Chief Executive Richard Schaefer said Thursday.
England's Khan (26-2, 18 knockouts) was supposed to fight Lamont Peterson on Saturday in a rematch of their controversial decision won by Peterson in his hometown of Washington, D.C., in December. Peterson, however, tested positive for synthetic testosterone, and Golden Boy scrapped the fight.
In Anaheim, Khan initially targeted new World Boxing Council junior-welterweight champion Danny "Swift" Garcia (23-0, 14 KOs), but Schaefer said negotiations with Garcia's representative Wednesday failed to net a deal.
Schaefer said Khan, who trains at Hollywood's Wild Card Boxing Club, wanted to fight in Southern California, rejecting an overture from Atlantic City. He could turn to Devon Alexander or Erik Morales if ongoing talks with Garcia's reps prove unsuccessful.
Garcia, coming off a victory over Morales, would clearly net a richer pay day against Khan than versus opponent Ajose Olusegun, whom the WBC declared a mandatory title challenger, with a purse bid scheduled for Friday.
Schaefer said he's working to get sanctioning bodies to strip Peterson of his World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation belts, and noted a title-unification match takes precedence over a mandatory single-sanctioning-body order.
Perhaps of greater boxing significance, Schaefer said he's reopened dialogue with Todd duBoef, president of rival promotional company Top Rank in an effort to stage a July 14 fight at Cowboys Stadium between Mexican legends Morales (promoted by Golden Boy) and Top Rank's Juan Manuel Marquez.
"That's a good fight, but what's significant is that Todd and I are having a conversation," Schaefer said.
That's an obvious reference to Golden Boy's promotional tie to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Top Rank's star, Manny Pacquiao, who fights Timothy Bradley on June 9 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. While Mayweather prepares for a 90-day jail sentence for domestic violence beginning June 1, a fall date for a super-fight would be a front-burner topic for Schaefer and duBoef.
"There's a lot of opportunities for Floyd," Schaefer said. "Todd and I now have an open line of communication."
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