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"GOD FORBID IF WINKY WERE IN OSCAR'S TOURNAMENT AND HE WON!"
- Bob Arum, Yesterday and Today (and Tomorrow too!)

16.11 - Oscar De La Hoya, the reigning WBC/WBA super welterweight champion, is looking to make history by fighting IBF jr. middleweight champion WINKY WRIGHT in a unification bout. A victory would give Oscar his first ever undisputed title. Promoter Bob Arum is looking to bury that notion.

De La Hoya has made it clear he wants a rematch with Felix Trinidad above any other fight. But he has also made it clear that the general assumption that Shane Mosley would be his second choice for his next fight is not a mortal lock.

"I know I could make the most fighting Mosley," De La Hoya told Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Springer in a recent article. "But I'm not looking for that. I'm looking at making history. Winky says that if I could beat him, I would be an undisputed champion for the first time and he's right."

Yesterday, De La Hoya told Springer he was contemplating promoting a jr. middleweight tournament which would consist of himself and three other fighters. A "Final Four at 154." De La Hoya would select the participants from a group that would presumably include Wright and Mosley among others.

"They are all invited," said De La Hoya. "We're not excluding anybody."

That was yesterday.

Today, Arum was quoted in Springer's article saying, "My interest in this is that it provides a viable opponent for Oscar in the second round . . . It's a good idea to have Vargas and Forrest fight."

Vargas and Forrest? Which one of them holds the IBF jr. middleweight title?

"I guess Bob is giving me a first-round bye," said Wright when informed of Arum's comments. "I know Bob hates the thought of Oscar fighting me. I am sure he still has nightmares over Oscar's close shave with Pernell Whitaker. At least Oscar is being his own man and wants to make history fighting me to unify the title. It appears his promoter is not as confident in Oscar winning a fight against me. Is Bob afraid it will be lights out in Arumville if we fight?"

Mosley and WBC welterweight champion Vernon Forrest have already scheduled interim fights. Fernando Vargas, who was knocked out by De La Hoya in their September bout, is due to come before the Nevada State Athletic Commission Wednesday after testing positive for steroids.

"God forbid if Winky were in it [the tournament] and he won? How could I sell it?," Arum asked Springer.

Very easily Bob. It IS the Wright fight.

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