The Baltimore Sun's Lem Satterfield is reporting that a deal has been reached for WBC Heavyweight champion Hasim "The Rock" Rahman to defend his title against mandatory contender Oleg Maskaev on August 12 in Las Vegas, most likely at the Thomas and Mack Center.
The bout is a rematch of a November 1999 tussle in Atlantic City. Maskaev won the first bout by eighth-round knockout.
According to Satterfield, Rahman, as champion, is mandated to receive 70 percent of the purse to 30 percent for Maskaev. Arum and Maskaev's promoter, Dennis Rappaport, must successfully negotiate a deal by May 1, in accordance with WBC rules, or else a purse bid will be held, with the winner earning the right to promote the fight.
"We're very close," Arum told the Sun, referring to negotiations between him and Rappaport. "I expect that we will conclude it [this morning]. We're zeroing in on the numbers."
The bout will be shown on HBO PPV with The Wynn and Caesar's Hotels committing to buy a certain number of tickets for the bout.
Arum added that he attempted to reach a deal to have the bout at M&T Bank Stadium in Rahman's hometown of Baltimore on July 22. However, HBO had already scheduled a bout between WBC Welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir and number one contender Arturo Gatti on that night and any later date would run into the Baltimore Ravens' exhibition football season.
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2 comments:
I think Hbo should have helped rahman defend his title here in baltimore . It would have raised alot of money for the city
HBO is really under no obligation to do that. It's not up to the network to decide where the bout will be held.
If Rahman REALLY wanted to defend his title in Baltimore, he could have pushed for it. In order to do that, he may have had to give up some of his purse. But that depends on how much Rahman wanted to fight in Baltimore.
Mark Johnson did this when he defended his title against Arthur Johnson a few years ago. Johnson gave up a good portion of his purse because he wanted to defend his title so badly in front of his home crowd.
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