Bob Arum and Al Haymon patch old wounds by making Terence Crawford-John Molina Dec. 10 bout
Bob Arum has not only settled his lawsuit with Al Haymon, but he’s also settled some old grudges that kept the veteran promoter from making fights for years with the powerful manager.
Arum revealed publicly Friday what he told The Times on Thursday: his unbeaten junior-welterweight world champion Terence Crawford will meet Covina’s John Molina Jr. of Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions Dec. 10 at CenturyLink Center in Crawford’s hometown, Omaha, Neb.
HBO, which saved money when circumstances moved both Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin off scheduled December bouts, will broadcast the fight as Crawford (29-0, 20 knockouts) defends both his World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council belts.
In a disappointing HBO pay-per-view in July, Crawford dominated Ukrainian Viktor Postol to take his WBC belt.
The 33-year-old Molina (29-6, 23 KOs) will be the first non-mandatory fighter represented by Haymon to appear on HBO since he and the network split in 2013. Back then, HBO leadership fumed as Haymon moved a string of fighters off the network to Showtime — including Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Haymon’s middleweight Dominic Wade made an April appearance on HBO only because he was the mandatory challenger to champion Gennady Golovkin.
The Arum-Haymon feud was legendary in boxing, and the pair didn’t work together for nearly a decade following Mayweather’s split with the promoter in 2006 until CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves helped broker a meeting and deal for Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao last year.
Earlier this year, Arum settled his lawsuit that accused Haymon of working to monopolize boxing, and he’s made no secret of interest in placing former two-division champion Timothy Bradley Jr. against a PBC opponent early in 2017. Arum’s featherweight champion, Oscar Valdez, is also likely to meet someone in the gifted PBC stable, which boasts champion Jesus Cuellar and former three-division champions Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares.
It starts with Crawford-Molina.
“That’s a hell of a fight,” Arum said Thursday as he awaited Molina’s signature on the contract.
Molina’s career appeared in peril as he lost five of eight fights between September 2012 and March 2015 to foes including Lucas Matthysse, Humberto Soto and Adrien Broner, but his entertaining style and grit shined in a June 11 unanimous-decision victory over Russia’s Ruslan Provodnikov.
And now he’s earned Crawford, who’s seeking to bolster his case for either a 2017 shot at Manny Pacquiao or someone in Haymon’s stable, such as Broner or perhaps even Arum’s estranged ex-champion Mikey Garcia.
OK, maybe Garcia is asking too much … .
Follow Lance Pugmire on Twitter @latimespugmire
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