Top Rank and Lou DiBella held a meeting on Thursday morning to negotiate a deal for a possible middleweight fight between WBC/WBO champion Kelly Pavlik and current WBC 154-pound champ Sergio Martinez. The meeting went well for the most part. No deal was reached but the two sides plan to continue their discussions.
"You can't go that fast. We're back and forth. Lou is going to call me again," Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com.
As previously reported, numerous promoters have laid claim to the date of April 17 on HBO. The confusion is starting to clear up. From what BoxingScene was told by multiple souces, HBO wants to stage a doubleheader on the date of April 17 with Kelly Pavlik and IBF 168-pound champion Lucian Bute in the co-feature.
The date would go head to head with Showtime's Super Six doubleheader, which features Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward vs. the winner of the Feb. 5 bout between Allan Green and Sakio Bika. I've heard from a few sources that DiBella was not a happy camper with the HBO card going directly against the Showtime event but at the same time he can't walk away from a Pavlik shot for Martinez.
Speaking of Green-Bika, I've heard from a few sources that fight is having issues. I hear the issues are coming from the Bika end. More than one member of Bika's camp have claimed the fight with Green is not a done deal. If Green-Bika falls apart, don't be surprised if Bute's team tries to secure Green as their HBO opponent for the April date.
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