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Just on their own, the fights between Danny Garcia and Zab Judah, who met April 27, and Lamont Peterson and Lucas Matthysse, who meet Saturday night (Showtime, 9 ET/PT) at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., are attractive matchups.

Garcia is a unified junior welterweight titleholder and the No. 1 fighter at 140 pounds. Judah is a former three-time titleholder with one of the biggest names in the sport. As it turned out, they waged an excellent fight with plenty of drama, and Garcia survived to win a unanimous decision.

Peterson, who also has one of the world titles, and Matthysse, an interim titleholder, are the Nos. 2 and 3 fighters in the division, and they have styles that should mesh beautifully and make for a terrific fight.

But when Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer and Showtime Sports boss Stephen Espinoza put together the fights, they had a grander idea than simply having the individual bouts separated by three weeks.

The plan was for the Garcia-Judah winner to face the Peterson-Matthysse winner to crown a 140-pound king in an unofficial tournament because the four fighters have not signed contracts calling for the final.

But that remains the plan, and everyone involved appears to be on board. The target date for Garcia to meet Saturday night’s winner is Sept. 7.

After Garcia defeated Judah, he came to the post-fight news conference and said to count him in.

“You know me, I'll fight anybody,” Garcia said. “If that's what [manager] Al Haymon [who recently signed Matthysse] wants, then that's what I'll do. I think Peterson will win [against Matthysse].”

Garcia plans to be ringside on Saturday night,too.

“Garcia is committed to it and the other two want to do it as well,” Schaefer said. “All the fighters are on board and so are the managers. I have to still discuss the money but [after Saturday] we’ll sit down with Showtime and work out a license fee.”

Although Peterson and Matthysse face a difficult assignment against each other, both also want Garcia next.

Peterson has wanted nothing more than to face elite opponents. He has faced Victor Ortiz and Timothy Bradley Jr. (both of whom are now welterweights). Peterson said he is all about proving he is No. 1 at 140 pounds.

“At the end of the day, those are some of the top guys in the division and to me that’s what boxing’s all about,” Peterson said. “Once you get to this level it shouldn’t be no more 'C class' fighters. There should be top-level guys, top five. I don’t even want to say top 10. It should be the top five guys. And those are some of the names that are in the top five, in my book, so I have no problem with that lineup. [So as for fighting Garcia], yeah, yeah, I’m definitely OK with it.”

As interim titlist, Matthysse is Garcia’s mandatory challenger, and that is the fight he has wanted even more than the one with Peterson.

“Yes, definitely, definitely, that’s what I want,” Matthysse said of facing Garcia. “I want that, if that’s the reason for this fight [with Peterson]. I hope that everything comes out OK because, yes, I would love to fight Danny Garcia.”

After former featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez got knocked out by Orlando Salido in a world title fight for the second time in March 2012, it seemed like Lopez was poised to make the move to junior lightweight.

He had talked about issues making the featherweight limit of 126 pounds and after nearly a year layoff -- caused by his suspension after the Salido rematch because of the accusations that the referee stopped the fight because he had wagered on the outcome -- Lopez returned in February. His two fights (both knockout wins) since ending the layoff were both contested at 128 pounds, halfway between the featherweight and 130-pound junior lightweight limits.

But Lopez is going to fight at featherweight, at least for the time being, and is all set to challenge titleholder Mikey Garcia (31-0, 26 KOs), who won his belt from Salido in January. The fight is June 15 (HBO, 10:15 p.m. ET/PT) at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

It appears as though Lopez (33-2, 30 KOs) is taking his training seriously and that making weight won’t be an issue. At this week’s Puerto Rico commission’s 30-day weight check, Lopez scaled 138 pounds, well inside the allowable weight of 144.9.

“We are working to make the weight and to get the best condition,” Lopez said. “Our goal was to make 139 pounds [Thursday] and we made 138, it’s so good. We are one month before the fight and I’m feeling very good with the training. As we made two fights [in February and April] this year, I kept in the gym all the time. We want to be in 131 or 132 pounds next week and work with that weight for the finals weeks, but I’m so good -- eating good and in a good mood.”

Although his weight is fine, he did have a gym mishap this week. He suffered a bruise on his face after falling.

“In reaction work with the medicine ball, I slipped on the on the wet racetrack and fell,” Lopez said. “Unbelievable. That’s the first time in my career.”

Interim junior welterweight titlist Lucas Matthysse was supposed to arrive in New York on Tuesday morning on a flight from his native Argentina that would give him plenty of time to make it the final news conference on Wednesday to promote his 141-pound nontitle showdown with junior welterweight titleholder Lamont Peterson.

They are scheduled to meet Saturday night (Showtime, 9 ET/PT) at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

But when Matthysse was a no-show at the media event, the reason for his surprising absence was glossed over. Promoter Golden Boy simply attributed it to "a travel issue" and moved on to Peterson and welterweight titlist Devon Alexander and his challenger, Lee Purdy, who will meet in the co-feature.

But behind the scenes there was worry. Golden Boy officials were concerned about whether Matthysse would make it to the United States in time -- or at all -- for the fight.

A source involved in the fight told ESPN.com that Matthysse's home in Argentina was robbed last weekend. During the robbery, according to the source, Matthysse's passport was badly defaced and rendered unusable. It is believed by Matthysse's camp, the source said, that it was an inside job by somebody clearly upset with Matthysse and purposely trying to screw up his travel plans for the fight. After all, burglars don't break into a stranger's home and then go hunting for a passport to destroy.

The intruder almost prevented Matthysse from fighting. Golden Boy spent the early part of the week contemplating a contingency plan in case Matthysse couldn't make it to America in time. What Golden Boy hoped to work out with Showtime in the event that Matthysse couldn't travel would have been to elevate Alexander-Purdy to the main event, with the welterweight fight between unbeaten prospects Shawn Porter and Phil LoGreco getting bumped up to the main broadcast from its slot on the Showtime Extreme portion of the card.

As of last Friday night, Matthysse didn't have a usable passport and needed to get one on short notice in order to get a visa. His team in Argentina was up to the challenge and worked very quickly. Somehow the time-consuming process was completed in a few days.

According to the source, Matthysse had been issued a new passport by the time the Wednesday news conference had started, saving Golden Boy officials from having to explain the situation to the media and to Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KOs).

With his paperwork in hand, Matthysse (33-2, 31 KOs) flew overnight on Wednesday night from Argentina to New York and arrived on Thursday morning. He and his team then drove to Atlantic City and were there by Thursday afternoon to rest, work out, do some interviews, get ready for Friday's weigh-in and, thankfully, Saturday night's big fight.

There have been a lot of good fight cards over the past couple of months and there are more to come. One of the shows I like the best, even though it won't get as much attention as some of the others, is Golden Boy's tripleheader on June 8.

That Showtime card (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) -- which takes place at one of boxing's best venues, the outdoor Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. -- is headlined by slugger Marcos Maidana (33-3, 30 KOs) of Argentina against Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KOs) of Riverside, Calif., in a welterweight scrap. How can that not be a good fight?

In the co-feature, junior middleweight contenders Erislandy Lara (17-1-2, 11 KOs), the slick boxer from Houston by way of Cuba, and Mexican brawler/puncher Alfredo "Perro" Angulo (22-2, 18 KOs) square off. And in the opener, a serious crossroads fight, Houston hot prospect Jermell Charlo (20-0, 10 KOs) -- who I think highly of -- faces veteran (and Bernard Hopkins' nephew) Demetrius Hopkins (33-2-1, 13 KOs) of Philadelphia in a junior middleweight contest.

The fighters in the top two bouts, along with Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya, met the media this week in Los Angeles to kick off the promotion. Here's some of what they had to say about the fights:

• Maidana: "I know [Lopez] likes to stand and trade and fight. That's what I do and that's why it's going to be such an exciting fight.

"My plan is to go toe-to-toe. I don't know what Josesito is going to do, but that's what I plan to do. Pressure is the key to the fight. I'm feeling great. I've been in Oxnard, Calif., for over a month already. I love training there. The weather is great and it's where my coach [Robert Garcia] is. It's going to be a great fight and I'm going to defend the honor of Argentina.

"The 147-pound division is where I feel best. I didn't feel that way at 140. Now I'm free and I can eat more. My body is different and you can see the definition."

• Lopez: "When you're fighting a heavy puncher like Maidana, you have to be smart. The move up to 154 pounds [for a loss to Canelo Alvarez in September] helped me now that I'm back at 147. Now I feel I'm a true welterweight. I feel great in the gym -- stronger and faster.

"I'm so excited about this fight and I'm the one receiving the punches. I can only imagine how excited the fans are. Years ago before I was at this level I thought, 'Man, this would be an exciting fight. I would love to get in there and bang with him.' Now we're here. It's a hell of a match-up. It could be the fight of the year.

"This is a fight I have to win. It's a fight that keeps me on the map. This is where I want to be and I'm working my ass off."

• Angulo: "This is my third fight after my time off [because of immigration issues] and conditioning-wise I'm feeling like my old self, feeling like I used to feel. There's no doubt I'll be in better condition than I was for my last two fights. There was just too much time off. Now, I'm in a rhythm.

"It's going to be a very good fight, the bull versus the matador. I have a lot of respect for Lara. He's a really good fighter and he wants to show he's the best, but he's going to have to come out and fight. He may think he's just going to box, but he's going to fight."

• Lara: "There's always a lot at stake when I fight, so I know I can't look ahead or take Angulo for granted. He is my total focus now. After I win on June 8, I can start thinking about a world title shot again. Angulo is a good fighter. I give him a lot of credit. He always comes to fight. I've worked very hard and am preparing for the best Angulo possible.

"The fact that I'm favored to win means nothing. Once the bell rings, it doesn't matter what the odds are. It's what you do in the ring that counts. Style-wise this is a perfect fight for me because Angulo likes to come forward. It's the classic boxer versus the puncher. I expect to put on a boxing clinic, so you can expect a smart fight from me.

"Obviously, the most important thing is for me to win, but I want to put on a great show for all the fans."

• De La Hoya: "We should have called this 'High Stakes' because you have the welterweight division where you have Floyd Mayweather. The winner between Marcos Maidana and Josesito Lopez automatically puts himself in line and at the front door knocking to fight the very best.

"What's most exciting for Alfredo Angulo's team is that he's just now putting everything together and really learning the craft of boxing under [trainer] Virgil Hunter. It's going to be very exciting to see him fight such an incredible fighter like Erislandy Lara."

Middleweight contender Andy Lee returned with a vengeance on Wednesday night in New York, needing just 87 second to knock out Daryl Cunningham on promoter Lou DiBella's "Broadway Boxing" card at BB King's Blues Club.

The win was Lee's second in a row since getting stopped in the seventh round in a middleweight world title fight by then-titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last June in El Paso, Texas.

It was also Lee's second fight with new trainer Adam Booth, who Lee hired after longtime trainer and close friend Emanuel Steward died in October.

Ireland's Lee (30-2, 21 KOs), 28, who now trains with Booth in England, stunned fellow southpaw Cunningham (28-5, 11 KOs), 38, of Detroit, with a left hand and was all over him. He trapped Cunningham on the ropes and let his punches fly. Cunningham was taking heavy punishment when referee Benjy Esteves Jr. stepped in.

"Onward and upward from here," Lee said after the fight. "I feel like I am at the top of my game right now and obviously the No. 1 guy in the middleweight division is Sergio Martinez and that is the fight I want. We have the same promoter in Lou DiBella, so I feel like it is an easy fight to make and one that is very attractive for the middleweight division. I know that Sergio is taking some time off [because of a knee injury], but I'll be ready for him once he is ready to go."

DiBella was impressed with Lee's performance.

"It was very explosive," DiBella said. "He came out like he had the intention to hurt him from the get-go and he did. I thought it was very impressive. Adam Booth told me before the last fight, 'You gotta give me a couple of fights with him because we're working on some things, so it won't happen in one fight.' But Andy looked like a beast.

"I think he's ready to go into a more substantial fight and there are tremendous fights to be made in the middleweight division."

With Martinez on the sidelines, probably until at least next spring, DiBella mentioned some other potential opponents for Lee, including Martin Murray, Darren Barker and the winner of the June 29 fight between titleholder Gennady Golovkin and Matthew Macklin.

With Lee being from Ireland and Murray, Barker and Macklin (who is Irish) all being from England, DiBella noted that those fights are a natural.

DiBella also said that he would like to try to get Lee a shot at titlist Daniel Geale of Australia, whose next fight likely will be in the United States on promoter Gary Shaw's HBO "Boxing After Dark" card in August.

"That's a fight we would be very interested in and I think that would be a helluva fight in the ring," DiBella said.

Tuneup fights can be a recipe for disaster. Just ask, for example, former heavyweight contender Tommy Morrison.

He had a done deal worth $8 million to fight Lennox Lewis but took what was supposed to be an easy tuneup fight against Michael Bentt in 1993. In shocking fashion, Bentt -- a massive underdog -- knocked Morrison out in just 93 seconds and the huge-money fight with Lewis went down the drain.

Although they would eventually fight two years later, it was not nearly as big of a fight and Morrison made a fraction of the money.

That is perhaps the most stark example of the tuneup fight turning into a nightmare, but there is always a danger and Russia’s Alexander Povetkin faces just that when he defends his secondary heavyweight belt against anonymous and untested Andrzej Wawrzyk (27-0, 13 KOs) of Poland on Friday night in Moscow.

If Povetkin (25-0, 17 KOs) blows through Wawrzyk then the decision to fight him will be forgotten. But if Povetkin should lose or get hurt it will be an absolute disaster for him.

Povetkin is going into the fight with a long-awaited showdown against champion Wladimir Klitschko on the schedule for Aug. 31. Klitschko crushed Francesco Pianeta in six one-sided rounds on May 4 in his tuneup defense.

Making the stakes even greater than just Povetkin’s shot at the real champion is the sheer amount of money at stake.

When the Klitschko and Povetkin camps could not make a deal the fight went to a purse bid and Russian promoter Vladimir Hryunov, who doesn’t promote either fighter, stunned everyone with an astronomical bid of $23,333,330, the third-biggest winning purse bid ever for a fight that most experts believe won’t come even close to generating that kind of money. But Hryunov put down his 10 percent deposit and both sides believe his bid is legit and that he won’t default.

Based on that massive bid -- which blew away bids from Klitschko’s K2 Promotions ($7.13 million) and Povetkin promoter Sauerland Event ($6.014 million) -- Klitschko is due a career-high payday of $17,499,997 (75 percent of the bid) with Povetkin due the remaining 25 percent for a career-best $5,833,333.

Povetkin knows what is at stake Friday but did his best to ignore the Klitschko talk at Wednesday’s final news conference.

“I am putting my belt on the line, so this is a very important fight for me,” Povetkin said. “I promise to give it all I have. My opponent’s name on Friday is Wawrzyk and not Klitschko. I am fully focused on him and want to give the fans inside the arena a great show.”

Wawrzyk would love nothing more than to repeat what Bentt did to Morrison 20 years ago.

“As soon as they offered me to fight Povetkin, I accepted,” he said. “This could be the chance of a lifetime. I have been in training anyways so I was ready from the get-go and I will try everything possible to burst the bubble that is the fight between Povetkin and Klitschko.”

Super middleweight contender James DeGale, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist for Great Britain, will make his North American debut Friday (WealthTV, 7 p.m. ET) when he faces Sebastien Demers at Casino du Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec.

DeGale (14-1, 9 KOs), fighting for the first time since he routed Fulgencio Zuniga for a lopsided 12-round decision in December, has fought all but one of his pro fights in the United Kingdom, save for one bout in Denmark. He is looking forward to fighting on the other side of the pond.

“I’m feeling good, very good,” DeGale, 27, said. “I haven’t been out of the gym since the beginning of the year. I’ve had a couple of fights canceled on me and postponed, but obviously I’m a true professional. I’ve been in the gym training hard and I’m just looking forward to [fighting in] Canada. It means a lot to be making my debut in North America. I traveled a lot as an amateur, traveled the world, but I haven't done too much as a pro to be honest.”

Demers (31-5, 11 KOs), of Quebec, took the fight on short notice but is an experienced veteran. In his only world title fight, he was knocked out in the third round by then-middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham in 2007.

Demers, 33, owns a 2010 win against faded former middleweight titlist William Joppy, but has lost his three bouts since, two by early knockout.

For DeGale, the fight is a way to get busy, show to a new audience what he can do, and keep working toward a world title shot.

“I can't wait to get out and fight, put on a great performance and move on and keep on progressing,” DeGale said. “Boxing is big out there, it’s one of their biggest sports. They’ve got some great fighters -- so in the future I could be fighting over there [in North America] again in another big fight. I want to put on a good performance and let everyone take note, because, like I said before, this is my year, 2013 is going to be my year.”

So much for Top Rank promoter Bob Arum's plans to match newly crowned junior featherweight titlist Victor Terrazas with either Vic Darchinyan on the Aug. 3 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. undercard in Mexico City, or with former titleholder Nonito Donaire in his fall comeback fight following a loss to Guillermo Rigondeaux in their unification bout last month.

Mexico's Terrazas (37-2-1, 21 KOs), who won a vacant title by outpointing former junior bantamweight champ and countryman Cristian Mijares by split decision on April 20, is going to be tied up with a tough, tough fight beforehand. He likely won't be available on Aug. 3, and there's a good chance he will no longer have his title in the fall.

Terrazas has been ordered to make a mandatory defense against former bantamweight titlist Leo Santa Cruz (24-0-1, 14 KOs), who gave up his 118-pound belt and made the successful move to 122 on May 4 when he blitzed former junior bantamweight titleholder Alexander Munoz for a fifth-round knockout in a one-sided fight on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Robert Guerrero undercard.

Although Santa Cruz has made just one fight at junior featherweight, he was given the mandatory position by the WBC as a former titleholder in the weight class below.

"We got the notification that Santa Cruz is the mandatory and the WBC has ordered the fight," Golden Boy promoter Richard Schaefer, who represents Santa Cruz, told ESPN.com.

Schaefer said Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez has reached out to Fernando Beltran, Terrazas' promoter -- and Arum's close associate -- to begin negotiating the fight.

Don't count on the camps making a deal given the bad blood that exists between Golden Boy and Top Rank.

Schaefer said the camps have been given until June 7 to negotiate a deal. If they don't make one by then, there will be a purse bid that day.

"We'll see if we can make a deal with Beltran, but if we don't, fine, we will go to a purse bid," Schaefer said. "If we win the purse bid, we will promote the fight. It's a good fight and we have plenty of spots to put it on. We're happy that Leo Santa Cruz has this opportunity and we are anxious to put on the fight."

A few updates on fighters and upcoming fights:

• Miguel Cotto, who likely will return to the ring in September, is keeping busy with his promotional company. In his June 7 card on Showtime from Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., junior middleweight Jorge Melendez (26-2-1, 25 KOs) of Puerto Rico will headline against Mexico's Luis Grajeda (14-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-rounder. Puerto Rican bantamweight Jonathan Vidal (17-0, 9 KOs) will face Mario Munoz (13-0-1, 10 KOs) of Mexico in the eight-round co-feature.

• Junior bantamweight titlist Juan Carlos Sanchez (15-1-1, 8 KOs) of Mexico will make a mandatory defense against Argentina's Roberto Sosa (24-0, 14 KOs) on June 8 (UniMas) at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Top Rank announced. Hot prospect Jessie Magdaleno (14-0, 10 KOs), who is from Las Vegas, will fight in the eight-round junior featherweight co-feature against Henry Maldonado (16-1, 11 KOs) of Nicaragua. Also on the card: heavyweight prospect Andy Ruiz (18-0, 12 KOs) in an eight-rounder against Carl Davis (16-5, 12 KOs). It's a tune-up fight for Ruiz, who is scheduled to face fellow undefeated prospect Joe Hanks on July 27 in Macau.

• The ESPN2 card headlined by junior featherweight Chris Avalos (21-2, 16 KOs) and former interim junior bantamweight titlist Drian Francisco (24-1-1, 19 KOs) of the Philippines, originally scheduled for June 14 at Texas Station Gambling Hall & Hotel in Las Vegas, has been moved to July 12. Junior middleweight prospects Glen Tapia (18-0, 10 KOs) and Abie Han (19-0, 12 KOs) will meet in the 10-round co-feature.

• Welterweight prospect Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (14-0, 8 KOs), an 18-year-old from Washington, D.C., who was just 17 when he turned pro, will headline a hometown card at the University of the District of Columbia's Sports Complex on Saturday night when he steps up a bit in competition against Puerto Rico native Eddie Soto (12-6, 4 KOs) of Pawtucket, R.I. Harrison is a student at the school. The card will be streamed live at Gofightlive.tv beginning at 7 p.m.

As an amateur fighter, Darley Perez was a 2008 Olympian for his native Colombia. As a professional, he is undefeated but a bit too old to still be called a prospect and not proven enough yet to be called a contender.

But now that Perez (28-0, 19 KOs) is taking on fellow unbeaten (but far more experienced) Yuriorkis Gamboa (22-0, 16 KOs) on June 8 (HBO) at the Bell Centre in Montreal on the undercard of light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson's defense against Adonis Stevenson, we ought to get some answers about just how good Perez can be as a pro.

Gamboa, after all, was a Cuban Olympic gold medalist in 2004 and has won two pro world titles at featherweight and an interim title at junior lightweight. Now Gamboa is moving up in weight again, this time to lightweight, where he will face Perez.

"I wouldn't dare take Gamboa lightly," said Perez, 29, who has fought primarily in the United States since 2010. "I'll train hard for a tough fight and he'd be well-advised to do the same because I'm a top fighter. I will prove to everyone that I am a world-class fighter and the rest of the world will figure out what I already know after June 8th."

Gary Shaw, who co-promotes Perez with Thompson Boxing, said they have been patient trying to get Perez this kind of high-profile fight and are confident he will make the most of it.

"You have to understand that we've been waiting on an opportunity like this for Perez to make his mark," Shaw said. "Some may feel like it is Darley's chance to pull off the shocking upset, but I see it as more of a coming-out party. We've had him caged in waiting for the chance to unleash the beast and we could've pulled the trigger a couple fights back and then the world would be aware of his chances in this fight. But because we knew that an opportunity like this was only a matter of time we waited and now he will show he's been a top contender all along."

Gamboa, 31, who is promoted by rap star Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, will be fighting for only the second time since his dominant eighth-round technical decision against Daniel Ponce De Leon in Sept. 2011. In his last fight, Gamboa looked a bit shaky in a decision win against Michael Farenas in December to claim an interim belt at 130 pounds on the Juan Manuel Marquez-Manny Pacquiao IV undercard.

Gamboa sees the fight with Perez as a steppingstone to winning another world title, this one at lightweight.

"I keep looking to prove my worth and will now do so in trying to win a fourth world title in a third weight class, the lightweight division," Gamboa said. "I like challenging myself [and] June 8th I plan on showing my best yet again."

One of the most talked-about potential fights, in England anyway, is a showdown between countrymen Amir Khan, the former unified junior welterweight titlist, and welterweight contender Kell Brook.

But Khan (28-3, 19 KOs), who has heard the talk and listened to Brook trash-talk him, said forget about it. Khan said he is not interested and has bigger fish to fry. He is looking for a world title fight and/or a shot against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and doesn't plan to "waste his time" with Brook (29-0, 19 KOs).

I spoke to Khan on Monday and he said he has no interest in fighting Brook, who should have been challenging welterweight titlist Devon Alexander on Saturday night in Atlantic City, N.J., but pulled out for a second time because of a foot injury.

Khan will be at the card, but not in action. He'll be there to support his kid brother, bantamweight Haroon Khan, in his second professional fight.

"A lot of people want to see me fight Brook but when we put that fight to HBO and [later] Showtime, they weren't interested," Khan said. "So if they're not interested, I'm not interested."

But Khan said his lack of interest goes deeper than just simple television business. He said he has felt disrespected by Brook's constant insults whenever he is mentioned to him.

"I don't want to give him that payday," Khan said. "He talks so much crap. I might never give him the opportunity to fight me. He's not worth it. It's waste of time and it has gone further than personal. I don't even want to beat him up now. I just don't even want to step in the ring with him because I don't gain anything from it and I don't want to fill his pockets. If he wants to do it for free, fine. I'll beat him up and he doesn't have to get paid. But I got my own path and my own goals and I don't need to be wasting my time with him. He hasn't even accomplished anything. All he does is irritate me.

"He's a fellow countryman and keeps dissing me and has never shown me and support or respect. All he had to do is say, 'Amir Khan, he's a good fighter,' and maybe we can fight someday. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, is OK. I have no problem with Eddie but Kell Brook, all he does it talk bad about me. If he was respectful, maybe it could happen. But he just says nasty stuff. It's like he's desperate for the fight and the payday. He's just looking for the big payday I would bring him and I won't give it to him."

Khan said even if he was interested, nobody in the United States is, and that is where Khan primarily fights.

"Only in England would that fight make sense, but nobody in the States cares about that fight," Khan said. "They want to see me fight the big names over there, not a nobody like Kell Brook, who hasn't done anything. Let him win a world title or fight a top opponent. Right now he has not done anything whatsoever to shout about. And if I did [agree] to fight him maybe he'd pull out twice on me like he's done to Devon Alexander."

When former light heavyweight champ Jean Pascal and former super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute finally meet in an all-Canadian superfight, they will have both had a much longer layoff than anticipated.

They were supposed to fight on May 25 at the Bell Centre in Montreal -- where they are both stars -- but the fight was postponed when Bute, a southpaw, suffered a left hand injury and underwent surgery to repair it last week. He had several bone fragments removed from his hand during the 40-minute procedure. Pascal promoter Yvon Michel and Bute promoter InterBox plan on rescheduling the fight, but it's going to be a while.

They announced on Monday that the fight will be rescheduled at the Bell Centre, but not until either Dec. 7 or Jan. 25. They said two dates are on hold in order to afford HBO, which is responsible for most of the money going toward making the match, options when it comes to making its winter schedule.

The promoters said they will discuss the date options with HBO executives in the coming weeks before announcing the specific date.

Pascal (27-2-1, 16 KOs), 30, hasn't fought since easily outpointing Aleksy Kuziemski in a 10-round fight on Dec. 14, so he will have remained idle at least a year by the time the bout with Bute takes place.

Bute (31-1, 24 KOs), 33, who lost his title by fifth-round knockout to Carl Froch last May, hasn't fought since struggling in his comeback fight, a 12-round decision win against Denis Grachev on Nov. 3. Bute will have gone at least 13 months between fights by the time he faces Pascal.

Fans who bought tickets for the May 25 card -- which would have been a sellout -- will be able to use them for whichever new date is selected for the fight.

For most of the nine rounds that their fight lasted, lightweight titleholder Ricky Burns was utterly outclassed by the largely unknown Jose Gonzalez. It was a shocking scene to see Gonzalez, who was the mandatory challenger for reasons that will remain a mystery -- because it sure had nothing to do with his barren résumé -- toying with Burns.

Gonzalez, who had never fought anyone of remote consequence and was fighting outside of his Puerto Rican home for the first time, had traveled to the lion's den of Glasgow, Scotland, where Burns is a hero, and he took the hero to school Saturday at Emirates Arena.

Burns' title was clearly slipping away -- just listen to the crowd grow quieter and quieter, round after round -- when, suddenly, Gonzalez simply quit on his stool after the ninth round.

The British television commentators, who also had Burns way behind, said it might have been a hand injury. Whatever it was, that's the sort of pain you sign up for when you become a prizefighter. If you want to be a champion, it goes with the territory. Gonzalez (22-1, 17 KOs) couldn't take it, did not have what it takes to be a champion and quit. Poof. Just like that, he gave up the opportunity of a lifetime to win a world title.

But for most of the nine rounds, Gonzalez befuddled an ineffective Burns (36-2, 11 KOs), who was as lucky to keep his title (in his third defense) as anyone is to hit the lottery. This fight wasn't so much about Burns winning it as it was about Gonzalez losing.

Burns, the heavy favorite, showed very little and had me thinking he should be thankful he (and former promoter Frank Warren) turned down multiple overtures from fellow titleholder Adrien Broner. I always thought Broner would manhandle Burns. After seeing Burns against Gonzalez, I'm sure of it.

By the third round, Burns was bleeding from the nose. He was being easily beaten to the punch as Gonzalez showed a really nice variety of punches -- uppercuts, body shots and right hands. He didn't even really use his best punch, the left hook, much.

Gonzalez had big fifth and sixth rounds, backing Burns into the ropes and hurting him with repeated blows. At this point in the fight, it seemed not really a matter of whether Gonzalez would stop him, just when. But I will give Burns a bit of credit here. He is experienced and has heart and obviously knew he was trailing. He let it all hang out in the seventh round, which will go down as a round of the year candidate.

They went toe to toe. They were both hurt and they were both in trouble at different times. It was a blistering round, and it clearly took more out of Gonzalez than Burns.

"He caught me with a few good shots, and I just decided to stand my ground and trade back with him. That's all I could do," Burns said after the fight about Round 7.

Burns mounted a comeback in the eighth and ninth rounds, his best of the fight, as Gonzalez, perhaps his hand already hurt, looked dead tired and did not do very much. Still, Burns was in a deep hole when the ninth ended. And then, out of nowhere, Gonzalez quit, giving Burns the improbable victory.

Eddie Hearn, the Matchroom Sport promoter who signed Burns before this fight after he dumped Warren, seemed relieved Burns had pulled this victory out of the fire.

"Unbelievable courage," he said of Burns' ability to hang in there despite a very tough night.

Then Hearn said they would be back in Scotland for Burns' next title defense in September -- a title he is very, very lucky to still call his own.

Some news and notes from the boxing world:

• Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer said Thursday that the post-fight drug tests for Floyd Mayweather Jr., Robert Guerrero, Abner Mares and Daniel Ponce De Leon all came back negative for any prohibited substances. The results for the rest of the boxers on the May 4 card at the MGM Grand and May 3 card at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas are still pending. Kizer said all 30 boxers on the two cards were tested.

• Mares looked fantastic knocking out Ponce De Leon in the ninth round to win a featherweight title on the Mayweather-Guerrero undercard, giving Mares a world title in his third weight class in the past three years. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said two scenarios are being considered for Mares' first defense. One is for Mares, who lives in Southern California, to return home to his native Mexico for a homecoming fight. The other is for Mares to once again fight on Mayweather’s undercard when he returns Sept. 14 to the MGM Grand.

• A little date switcheroo to fill you in on: Sakio Bika (31-5-2, 21 KOs) and Marco Antonio Periban (20-0, 13 KOs), due to meet for a super middleweight title that was stripped from Andre Ward for no good reason, were scheduled to fight June 8 on the Golden Boy/Showtime card at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. But Schaefer said the fight has been pushed back two weeks and will instead go on a Showtime tripleheader on June 22 on the Paulie Malignaggi-Adrien Broner undercard at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Also on the card is the heavyweight rematch between Johnathon Banks and Seth Mitchell.

• With Bika-Periban moving to June 22, Schaefer said another fight has been added to the June 8 card to also make it a tripleheader: a junior middleweight fight between hot prospect Jermell Charlo (20-0, 10 KOs), 22, of Houston, and Philadelphia’s Demetrius Hopkins (33-2-1, 13 KOs), 32, the nephew of light heavyweight titlist Bernard Hopkins. The June 8 card is headlined by welterweight Marcos Maidana against Josesito Lopez and also includes a junior middleweight fight between Erislandy Lara and Alfredo Angulo.

• Featherweight prospect Gary Russell Jr. is slated to appear on Showtime on the undercard of light heavyweight titlist Bernard Hopkins’ defense against mandatory challenger Karo Murat at the Barclays Center on July 13. Finding an opponent for Russell is always difficult, and this fight is no different.

“We have made a very strong offer to (former titlist) Jhonny Gonzalez and we’re waiting to hear from him,” Schaefer said.

• When the Canadian super fight between former light heavyweight champ Jean Pascal and former super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute, which was supposed to take place May 25 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, was called off because of Bute’s left hand injury, Pascal promoter Yvon Michel said some of the undercard bouts would be shifted to the June 8 card at the Bell Centre headlined by light heavyweight champ Chad Dawson facing Quebec’s Adonis Stevenson. Michel, who also promotes Stevenson, told ESPN.com that these two bouts would shift to June 8: light heavyweight Eleider Alvarez against Allan Green and welterweight Kevin Bizier versus Aldo Nazareno Rios.

• Up-and-coming lightweight Bahodir “Baha” Mamadjonov (13-1, 9 KOs), 25, a former standout amateur from Uzbekistan now living in Houston, has signed a promotional deal with Don King. Mamadjonov scored an upset on April 12 by knocking out Angelo Santana -- the best prospect in King’s thin stable -- in the ninth round. Mamadjonov had taken the “ShoBox” main event on short notice and impressed in front of a national TV audience.

“Signing with Don King brings me closer to my goal of winning a world championship,” Mamadjonov said. “That is what drives me every day. I want to win a world title for my family and the people of Uzbekistan who always believed in me.”

Said King, “I am extremely pleased and proud to have Baha with me. I expect great things from this young man because he’s dedicated and committed to becoming a world champion. He took the fight with Santana on almost no notice and stopped a great lightweight.”

• Former junior welterweight titlist Gavin Rees (37-2-1, 18 KOs) of Wales, who got knocked out by Adrien Broner in the fifth round in a February world title bout, returns to face England’s Anthony Crolla (25-4-1, 9 KOs) on June 29 in Manchester, England. The fight is the co-feature on the card headlined by former heavyweight titlist David Haye against former title challenger Manuel Charr. Crolla is coming off a 12-round split draw for the Commonwealth lightweight title against Derry Mathews on March 30 in a rematch of a Mathews sixth-round knockout win in April 2012.

“I cannot wait to get back into action,” Rees said. “I am itching to get another world title shot after fighting Broner. He is a megastar and will go on to do massive things in the game, but I feel that I can win another world title and this is a massive fight to prove I still have ambitions at that level.

“Anthony is a very good fighter and he put up a great performance in his rematch with Derry Mathews, and I think that the draw was the fair result. All-British clashes are always great to be a part of, with my own battle against Mathews a real cracking fight."

• Irish featherweight Patrick Hyland (27-1, 12 KOs), who is coming off a decision loss to Javier Fortuna for an interim featherweight title on Dec. 8, was due back in action on May 18 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. -- near his base of Marlboro, N.Y. -- but the card was canceled on Thursday because Hyland suffered a shoulder injury in his training camp, Final Round Promotions announced.

I awoke Thursday to a press release in my inbox from British promoter Frank Warren announcing a “blockbuster” card (aren’t they all?) for June 15 at Wembley Arena in London. The main event, Warren said, would be a heavyweight showdown between England’s Dereck Chisora and American hopeful Deontay Wilder, the untested 2008 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist who has, so far, shown destructive power in his right hand against a series of cream puff opponents.

My initial reaction to reading the release was that I didn’t believe it and my intuition was correct. Warren, as it turns out, was premature in his announcement. Maybe the fight ultimately will happen, but even that doesn’t look good, according to Golden Boy, Wilder’s promoter.

Warren has given all of us good reason to doubt his announcements since he has made so many over the years that simply did not come to fruition, such as the recent debacle with the Ricky Burns-Miguel Vazquez lightweight unification fight, which few believed would take place and then did not.

When I see a Warren release announcing a fight card -- especially with no quotes or confirmation from both sides -- my radar goes up. And it was on red alert after reading Thursday’s missive.

I had just been on the phone with Golden Boy chief executive Richard Schaefer on Wednesday evening and he was going over the company’s upcoming schedule (which is loaded) and Wilder’s name never came up.

So when I checked in with Golden Boy on Thursday after Warren’s announcement the answer from matchmaker Eric Gomez, who was negotiating the deal with Warren matchmaker Dean Powell, was, “No, no deal. They jumped the gun. There's issues with Deontay traveling, because of the arrest. I asked them not to announce until it is resolved. They didn't listen.”

Wilder (28-0, 28 KOs), 27, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., got arrested on Saturday in Las Vegas, where he was in town for the Floyd Mayweather-Robert Guerrero fight. According to the Clark County Detention Center, Wilder was arrested Saturday for “domestic battery by strangulation” and released on a $15,000 bond. Details of the incident are unclear.

Not only is Wilder’s arrest an issue but Gomez said he had just gotten a nine-page contract for the fight on Wednesday that had to be reviewed. Gomez said they had to talk to Wilder’s attorney about the arrest and also have their attorney, Arnold Joseph, go over the contract before the fight could be made.

“I specifically told them do not announce anything,” Gomez said. “We just got the contract and we’re still reviewing it. Right now, the fight’s not looking good, though. I told [Powell] to send over the contract. We did get a contract from them but I told them we still have to resolve the issue of the arrest and also go over the contract.”

Gomez said he and Powell traded several emails on Wednesday with Powell saying they wanted to announce the fight Thursday and Gomez telling him not to.

“We were negotiating the fight and talking and we went over the deal points,” Gomez said. “I said send over a contract and we can start looking at it. They wanted to announce it. I wrote back to him and said, ‘Please don’t announce anything. I’m waiting to hear from [Wilder's] attorney and we need to review the contract.’ They asked again Thursday morning if they could announce it and I said, ‘No, please don’t announce it.’ They just went ahead and announced it and now it looks like there will be an issue.”

Schaefer was also surprised that the fight was announced.

“That’s not something we would do. Why did he announce it when we don’t have a deal,” Schaefer said. “That’s not a way to make deals, it’s a way to kill deals. We sent them like four emails telling them not to announce it and sure enough they go and announce it. They wanted a quote from me for the press release but I wouldn’t give it to them because it wasn’t done.”

Wilder had his first pro fight in England on April 27 on the undercard of Amir Khan’s win against Julio Diaz. Wilder wiped out England’s totally shot Audley Harrison in just 70 seconds.

Chisora (16-4, 10 KOs) ended a three-fight losing streak (including a loss to Vitali Klitschko in a heavyweight world title fight) on April 20 by stopping journeyman Hector Avila in the ninth round.