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Mark KriegelESPN
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has reserved the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 8 for a long-awaited 140-pound unification fight between IBF and WBA champion Josh Taylor (17-0) and Jose Ramirez (26-0), the WBC and WBO champion, he said Friday.
Canelo Alvarez will fight WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders — also in Las Vegas — on either May 1 or May 8, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday, but the Taylor-Ramirez date will not change, according to Top Rank.
Arum said he’s “looking forward” to having fans in attendance “in accordance with strict standards imposed by the state of Nevada.”
Arum said Taylor is already working on a obtaining a Visa and that the purses between the two ex-Olympians will be equal.
“From our side of the table, we are happy moving forward with Taylor-Ramirez,” said Jamie Conlan, vice president of MTK Global, which advises Taylor and also has a relationship with Ramirez’s manager, Rick Mirigian.
Mirigian, however, said deal is not yet locked up with his client.
“I’m optimistic, but negotiations continue,” Mirigian said. Another interested party is undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez, who has said he wants to fight the winner to become the only undisputed four-belt champion at both 135 and 140 pounds.
On Thursday, Arum hosted a lunch at his Beverly Hills home with Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya and Eric Gomez. Among the subjects discussed was a possible mega fight between Lopez and Garcia.
Garcia’s team was not at the lunch
The idea, according to Arum, was for Lopez to defend against his IBF mandatory challenger, and Garcia to fight Javier Fortuna, then meet in a mega fight.
“It would have to be this year,” Arum said. “Because after that, Teofimo is going up to fight the winner of Taylor-Ramirez.”