Peterson balancing Marquez, Khan bouts; Pacquiao-Bradley inches closer

On Thursday, Barry Hunter, the manager of IBF/WBA junior welterweight titleholder Lamont Peterson, received a call from Top Rank CEO Bob Arum offering to match Peterson against Juan Manuel Marquez at the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium in April or July.

On Friday, Hunter said he was contacted by Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer offering a hefty sum for Peterson to have a return bout with Amir Khan, whom Peterson defeated by disputed split-decision last month.

Schaefer told RingTV.com on Friday that he "offered [Peterson] $1.5 million and we offered him a 50-50 split of world-wide revenues" to face Khan.

"That was the first time that we have had any type of dialogue, Richard and I, among one another, since a week after the fight," said Hunter. "We definitely talked about the possibility of having this rematch. We just started, put it that way. It was a start."

The Marquez-Peterson winner would get a shot at that between WBO welterweight beltholder Manny Pacquiao and WBO junior welterweight titleholder Tim Bradley, according to Arum.

"I told Barry that we would talk again on Monday," said Arum. "But Marquez already has agreed to the fight."

Hunter would not elaborate on whether or not he considered one scenario more favorable -- the one with Marquez or the one with Khan.

PACQUIAO UPDATE

Arum said that Bradley still appears the frontrunner to face Pacquiao, given that WBA junior middleweight Miguel Cotto still is balking at Pacquiao's requirement that their bout be contested at or below the 147-pound welterweight limit.

"Does it look closer to being Bradley? It looks closer to being Bradley, obviously, by the process of elimination," said Arum of a bout that may take place on June 9 the Thomas & Mack Center or the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "Pacquiao's opponent will be decided late this week. We've got plenty of time."

Cotto still is in the picture, but only by the slimmest of margins, said Arum.

"What happens if Miguel Cotto comes back and says, 'Okay, I'll make the weight?'" said Arum. "That opens up another possibility. But right now, he's saying that he wouldn't."

Arum acknowled that WBC welterweight beltholder Floyd Mayweather Jr. is out as a potential opponent for May 5, the target date for a return to the ring by Mayweather, who is slated to begin serving an 87-day jail sentence on June 1.

"Floyd is out of the picture for May. He put himself out of the picture for May. Enough is enough," said Arum. "Any discussion with Floyd was over when he said that he would't go for the 50-50 split. As far as we're concerned, that's it. It's over."

MARQUEZ-PETERSON

Marquez-Peterson could take place as early as April or as late as July, said Arum.

"If we do their fight in July, then Marquez is going to look at fighting an easy fight in Mexico," said Arum. "And then, maybe we'll talk to Lamont about fighting an easy, non-title fight also."

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com