Goossen to promote the best damn fighter in the world period?

When Bob Arum, during his exclusive interview with Boxingtalk, went out of his way to belittle undefeated pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr, we had a funny feeling something was up. When Arum went on to say that he was disgusted with HBO "over the underhanded things" they did relating to Floyd Mayweather Jr's next fight and "you'll read about it in the court papers", there was no doubt something big was going down. His description of Sharmba Mitchell as someone who can't fight anymore and a boxer five years past his prime, made some wonder if this was the same Mitchell Arum was mentioning as Mayweather's opponent for what he felt could have been a successful PPV, even on Thanksgiving weekend. Why is Arum suddenly enraged with HBO, disgusted with Mayweather and even more disgusted with Sharmba Mitchell as his choice of opponent? Boxingtalk.com believes we've connected the dots on this one.

First of all it's no secret that Bob Arum and HBO have gotten along quite well over the years, so what could Team Mayweather have done that has Arum on the verge of filing court papers? Before we get into that, WHO on Team Mayweather could have Arum feeling this way? Who on Team Mayweather is close enough with HBO to possibly get them to work against Arum? The answer, Al "Can You Hear Me Now" Haymon.

As Boxingtalk.com has so thoroughly pointed out over the past twelve months, Mayweather's advisor Al Haymon is EXTREMELY COZY with HBO. Out of nowhere, Haymon has managed to secure relationships with HBO staples such as Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor and Mayweather within the past twelve months. 

Back to Floyd.

Of the two finalists left for Mayweather's November 19 date, Joel "El Cepillo" Casamayor and Sharmba "Little Big Man" Mitchell, which one is not promoted by Top Rank? Well, Casamayor rendered Top Rank an option when he faced Kid Diamond at Madison Square Garden on June 11, so surely it's not him.

That leaves Mr. Mitchell, who we understand recently signed a promotional contract with Dan Goossen's Goossen Tutor Promotions.

What kind of working relationship does Dan Goossen, whom Bob Arum coincidentally (or not) called an idiot, have with Al Haymon?

Based on the fact that Vernon Forrest (Haymon's first client) will be appearing on the Fox Sports Net's popular Best Damn Fight series next month, and other Haymon clients such as Vassiliy Jirov, Audley Harrison, Lorenzo Reynolds and Montell Griffin have fought on Goossen's shows several times, I think it's safe to say Goossen and Haymon have no problem doing business with each other.

Is it possible that HBO has agreed to air Floyd Mayweather Jr-Sharmba Mitchell on November 19 without Bob Arum being involved? Let's put it like this, Boxingtalk.com would not be the least bit surprised if that were the case.

Arum's relationship with Mayweather could have been contigent on Mayweather's long term deal with HBO, which as we understand it, expired when he fought Henry Bruseles nine months ago. 

Floyd Mayweather Jr hasn't been shy about declaring himself a free agent either, so it's evident to me that Team Mayweather feels they have no further contractual obligations to Top Rank.

If that is the case, Team Mayweather may feel that Arum was just assuming he would promote Floyd's fights as long as Floyd was fighting on HBO, despite Floyd currently having no contract with HBO.

Boxingtalk hasn't been able to reach Arum as of yet, but we're working dilligently to see if he can help us fill in some of the blanks and explain to us where he feels the word "underhanded"  should be applied to this story.

Calls to Dan Goossen, Al Haymon, Kerry Davis, Mark Taffet, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Todd DuBoef have yet to be returned as well. Boxingtalk is all over this one so keep your eyes glued to our front page for all the latest, until then...

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