Last night on Showtime, Danny Green was in attendance at the Bradley-Peterson fight in California, and talked with Showtime's Jim Gray briefly between the night's two televised bouts.
Green called out Bernard Hopkins, which everyone expected he eventually would. And it looks like it just might happen. Rick Reeno reports that Green has hired American promoter Gary Shaw to help work out the deal.
"Gary is advising me and we're doing a plan. It's out of my control at the moment. It's up to Bernard on where he wants to go. If he wants it in Australia or he wants to do it here in America. Of course we have to agree to the terms. Hopefully we sign it and get the fight on. It make sense to do that fight. It's a natural progression. They were supposed to fight Jones. They overlooked me. Now he can scratch out Roy's name and put my name on the contract. It's the biggest and most lucrative fight out there."
Like his win over faded Jones, Green may be overstating the desire for Hopkins-Green, especially since I just don't see Bernard agreeing to fight in Australia, where they could make huge money at the gate and B-Hop could get a killer guarantee, as Jones did. In the States, Hopkins-Green isn't a whole lot bigger a fight than was Hopkins-Ornelas.
Getting an American promoter who knows Hopkins and knows more of the American promoters' games is a good idea, though. Shaw is a bit cantankerous, but Golden Boy knows him. Jones didn't have the same issues, because he at least partially negotiates his own deal, and he's his own boss. Hopkins is, too, kind of, but not in the same definitive way.