Bob Arum Says Mares Should Rematch Agbeko, Then Look to Donaire

Bob Arum tells Lem Satterfield at The RING that he's very open to making a fight between his bantamweight, Nonito Donaire, and Golden Boy's Abner Mares, but he feels that Mares should rematch Joseph Agbeko first after last night's controversy:

"As far as Mares is concerned, my feeling is that what Mares should do is to give this guy a rematch. I think that the IBF is going to order a rematch because that was not good. Particularly that knockdown in the 11th round, which was clearly a blow on the cup. I mean, what was that? The referee was standing right in front of it," said Arum.

Mares (22-0-1, 13 KO) may well be ordered by the IBF to rematch Agbeko (28-3, 22 KO) due to the incompetent refereeing of Russell Mora last night. As for Donaire (26-1, 18 KO), he's set to fight on October 22, and the list of opponents presented to HBO is less than excellent, to put it nicely.

But it is intriguing to hear that Donaire may stay one more fight at 118 pounds if Abner Mares rematches and defeats Joseph Agbeko. There would be some HBO/SHO issues to figure out, but both Arum and Richard Schaefer seem to think that something can be worked out.

HBO and Showtime have worked together in the past, but haven't co-promoted a fight since Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson in 2002. As good a fight as Donaire vs Mares might be, it's certainly not a Lewis vs Tyson-level event, and the money to pass around wouldn't even be in the same solar system.