• Although HBO PPV and Golden Boy have announced the Joel Casamayor-Juan Manuel Marquez lightweight championship fight for Sept. 13, HBO PPV is prepared to do the Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones fight on pay-per-view one week later. It would be the first time in history that HBO PPV backed pay-per-view cards on consecutive Saturdays. HBO isn't thrilled with the schedule, but is willing because it feels the cards target different audiences. Calzaghe-Jones organizers, headed by Jones' Square Ring, insist on going Sept. 20 instead of in November in order to stay as far away as they can from the Ricky Hatton-Paulie Malignaggi fight, which will take place Nov. 15 or Nov. 22. Both are major PPV events in the United Kingdom and aren't going to be scheduled in the same month (Hatton-Malignaggi will be on regular HBO in America).
• MMA star Andrei Arlovski, the former UFC heavyweight champion from Belarus, has been training for a boxing career under the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach. Arlovski, who has an MMA bout July 19, likely will make his professional boxing debut Sept. 13 (HBO PPV) in the opening fight on the Casamayor-Marquez card in Las Vegas, according to Golden Boy.
• Junior welterweight Demetrius Hopkins (28-0-1, 11 KOs), the nephew of Bernard Hopkins, signed a promotional contract with Top Rank this week, manager Cameron Dunkin told ESPN.com. Hopkins had a falling out with Golden Boy Promotions earlier in the year and pulled out of a title shot against then-beltholder Junior Witter, which was supposed to be on HBO. Hopkins contended that his deal with Golden Boy, of which Bernard Hopkins is a part owner, was over but the company retained the right to match any offer. Dunkin said it passed and gave Demetrius a release. "He's signed with Top Rank. Everything is done," Dunkin said, adding that Hopkins' first fight under the deal probably would come in August.
• Dimitri Kirilov's junior bantamweight title defense against Vic Darchinyan on Aug. 2 (Showtime) finally has a home. It will take place at the Buffalo Run casino in Miami, Okla. The televised opener will feature super middleweight Andre Dirrell (15-0, 10 KOs), a bronze medal-receiving 2004 U.S. Olympian, who is coming off an impressive fifth-round knockout of Anthony Hanshaw on May 2. Organizers attempted to match him with top-10 contender Allan Green, but both fighters rejected the bout.
• Super middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute (22-0, 18 KOs) will face mandatory challenger Librado Andrade (27-1, 21 KOs) in his second defense Oct. 24 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Golden Boy's David Itskowich told ESPN.com. He said he was going there for a Monday news conference to announce the fight. Andrade, who is promoted by Golden Boy, failed in a previous title shot, losing a lopsided decision for a version of the 168-pound belt to Mikkel Kessler in Denmark in March 2007.
• Promoter Gary Shaw and HBO are planning another "Night of the Rising Stars" card for "Boxing After Dark" Oct. 4, but minus junior middleweight James Kirkland, who severed ties with Shaw last month. Shaw presented a May card that included impressive victories by Kirkland, junior middleweight Alfredo Angulo and junior lightweight Yuriorkis Gamboa, the flashy 2004 Cuban Olympic gold medalist. Angulo and Gamboa are slated to fight on the next edition with a possible third fight being added.
• HBO has changed its plans for Aug. 2. Joshua Clottey and Zab Judah will still meet for a vacant welterweight belt in Las Vegas in the "Boxing After Dark" main event, but there won't be a second live fight. HBO hoped it would be lightweight prospect Anthony Peterson stepping up against "Kid Diamond" Almazbek Raiymkulov. But after Peterson's lackluster performance last week against Fernando Trejo, Top Rank decided Peterson wasn't ready for that level fight and wanted to match him with Jose Reyes, a bout HBO rejected. Peterson might still face Reyes on the card and if he does, HBO would air highlights. Plan B for the Aug. 2 card was junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan, a 2004 U.S. Olympian, facing Andrey Tsurkan. However, Martirosyan injured his left hand battering Angel Hernandez on the Peterson-Trejo undercard and won't be available, Top Rank vice president Todd duBoef told ESPN.com.
• Junior bantamweight titlist Fernando Montiel's defense against Jose "Carita" Lopez, planned for the July 26 Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito HBO PPV card, has been called off. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com that Montiel was having problems with his weight and would be unable to get down to 115 pounds in time for the fight. Arum did say, however, that Montiel intended to fight at 115 again. A card Arum would like to put together for late in the year would have Montiel in a unification fight with two-belt titleholder Cristian Mijares with a co-feature of junior bantamweight Jorge Arce facing Nonito Donaire, a flyweight titlist who would move up. Arum would like to then have the winners of the two bouts fight.
• The long overdue fight between bantamweight titlist Joseph Agbeko and mandatory challenger William Gonzalez (21-2, 19 KOs) has been scheduled. They're due to meet on a Don King card Aug. 2 in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Also scheduled: Juan Palacios versus Omar Soto for an interim strawweight title. Agbeko (25-1, 22 KOs) hasn't fought since impressively stopping Luis Perez in the seventh round to win a belt last September.
• Bell Gardens, Calif., junior flyweight Giovanni Segura (19-0-1, 15 KOs), who has waited a year for a mandatory shot against French titlist Brahim Asloum (23-2, 9 KOs), will have to wait more. His title shot, scheduled for July 26 in Cannes, France, was postponed this week because of a dispute between Asloum's team and French TV network Canal+ over how much the network would pay for the fight.
• Once again, heavyweight Odlanier Solis' step-up fight with former contender Francois Botha has been postponed. Solis, the 2004 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist who defected from Cuba to Germany, was supposed to face Botha on Saturday on Arena Box-Promotions' card in Turkey. However, according to Arena, Solis has an inflammation in his right arm and has withdrawn from the fight. It is the fourth time the fight has been postponed. Arena hopes to reschedule it again for August or September. But Saturday's card will still go on with Sinan Samil Sam facing Paolo Vidoz for the vacant European heavyweight title in the main event and recent Cuban defector and 2005 world amateur champion Erislandy Lara turning pro in a middleweight bout.
• Heavyweight Monte Barrett (34-6, 20 KOs), coming off an explosive first-round knockout of Tye Fields on last Saturday's Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz undercard, hopes the performance was good enough to land him an Oct. 18 fight with England's David Haye, the cruiserweight champion who is moving up in weight. Barrett, 37, was supposed to provide Fields with his first test but blew him out. Now, Barrett hopes to give Haye a test in his jump to heavyweight. "This win will serve notice that Monte Barrett still has some gas left in his tank and will do anything to get to that top level of the division," Barrett said. "I want David Haye next. I just slayed one giant in Tye Fields and now I'm ready to go across the pond and beat that big Brit. I know I am better than him and will knock him flat on his back."
C/S!!!
GTFOH!!!!!!