‘Canelo’ fights Erislandy Lara in July for a potential crack at a world title, which Arum states as the only factor for negotiations with Oscar De La Hoya not getting off the ground for the mega-fight.
“Canelo is fighting too late. He’s fighting in July. So for November, Canelo wouldn’t be right. But maybe sometime next year,” Arum told abs-cbnnews.com.
The contest that was said to be at the forefront of Pacquiao’s mind was a fifth encounter with Juan Manuel Marquez, although ‘Dinamita’ has been quiet on the subject since his victory over Mike Alvarado. Last week’s wide points win was an eliminator for a crack at Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight belt, which puts Marquez as the obvious choice to oppose the ‘Pacman’ once again later in the year.
Arum has set up a meeting with Marquez to discuss the possibility of yet another clash with his old nemesis, but has also lined up back-up in the form of WBO 140lb champion Ruslan Provodnikov and surprisingly, Amir Khan.
Golden Boy are now back in the frame for all Top Rank fighter’s following Arum and Oscar De La Hoya’s rekindling of their friendship, meaning the likes of Khan and Alvarez have a second chance of hitting the jackpot instead of focusing on Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“Juan Manuel has not committed yet to the fight. I’ll have the opportunity to speak with him maybe as soon as next week because I invited Juan Manuel and his wife to come to Macau so we have plenty of time to discuss it,” he said.
“Ruslan is fighting on June 14 on HBO. It will be shown in the Philippines and so he is also a potential opponent.
“We will see which of these welterweights have been fighting for Golden Boy or on the contract to Golden Boy that Oscar can produce. Once we learn that, we can review those fighters. It could be Amir Khan,” added Arum.
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