HBO shuffling December dates for Pavlik-Williams and Shane Mosley?

Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com reports that the HBO's December dates may be getting moved around a bit, and that boxing fans might wind up getting a one-day late Christmas present.

It was recently reported that Mosley had a hard date of December 5 to return to the ring, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas against either Andre Berto or Joshua Clottey. While Richard Schaefer still says that's their date, HBO is said to want that date for the "rescheduled" middleweight championship fight between Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams, which will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Pavlik-Williams was originally set for October 3 before Pavlik pulled out due to staph in his hand.

December 5 was one of the two initial dates HBO set up for a rescheduling of Pavlik-Williams, so this is not a surprise. If HBO were able to work it out, Mosley would return on December 26, and it's looking likely that his opponent will be Clottey and not Berto.

The bottom line is this, really: Mosley-Clottey and Pavlik-Williams are both fights that fight fans want to see, and if Golden Boy has to take a back seat for three weeks, then so be it. Stick to that "let's help make boxing better!" mantra and do it. Don't fight with HBO about it, just find a way to make it work.

Hopefully we can see both fights in December, as that could make for one hell of a final month of boxing in 2009.