Mares vs Agbeko Rematch: December 3 a Possible Date

Lem Satterfield of The RING reports that December 3 is the date being explored for the IBF-mandated rematch between Joseph Agbeko and Abner Mares.

"I talked to [Don] King and told him the we will do the rematch with Agbeko. I met with Abner yesterday and he is in," said Schaefer. "We are looking at Dec. 3, and we are checking out venues. It might be in Mexico or maybe California."

Also earlier today, Steve Kim of MaxBoxing.com tweeted that Showtime will make room for the fight:

Here's the possible issue if December 3 winds up being the date: There's a little show that night at Madison Square Garden featuring Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito in a big rematch. You might've heard about it.

Now, if December 3 is the date, that would be a real issue. The fight belongs on Showtime, and from the way Schaefer talked about a possible fight with Nonito Donaire, Abner Mares has a contract with Showtime. This would mean that either Showtime would be putting on this card against the HBO pay-per-view presentation of Cotto vs Margarito, or...well, I think you get where I'm going here. Cotto vs Margarito II isn't officially an HBO show, but this might be tipping the play a little bit. Showtime was thought to be a contender to land that show, but unless they can talk Top Rank into putting Agbeko vs Mares on the card, and work with Golden Boy and Don King Promotions, there's a major issue. They aren't going to counter-program their own PPV with a show on regular Showtime.

December 10 is also thought to be the date for Amir Khan vs TBA on HBO, which is also a Golden Boy show, so GBP wouldn't want to counter-program that. December 17 is generally a little late in the season, but Showtime did work on that weekend last year for Pascal vs Hopkins, so I can't imagine that's out of the question. The IBF has set the due date for the fight at 12/14, but I'm sure they'd allow three more days.

We'll see how this all shakes out, but it's an interesting proposition right now, and could tell us something about where other fights are headed.