Both of the top American promoters have requested the September 14 date with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, no surprise in itself, but the magnitude of the two fights in question leaves a lot of open questions.
Golden Boy, with Showtime pay-per-view, have a request for the MGM Grand, which would in theory house a Floyd Mayweather fight. Mayweather (43-0, 26 KO) faces Robert Guerrero on May 4, and has said he'll fight again on September 14. Floyd hasn't fought twice in a calendar year since 2007, and hasn't fought twice in this short a time since 2002-03.
If Mayweather does fight on September 14, you can be assured that Top Rank and HBO will not run against him. This has to be said again, probably, but we've said it a million times: Cable companies won't carry head-to-head pay-per-views. That is of absolutely no concern. I cannot stress this enough.
Top Rank's request is for the Thomas & Mack Center, for a Juan Manuel Marquez vs Timothy Bradley fight. That fight would be on HBO pay-per-view, and there probably just isn't enough money to put it on HBO. Arum has also said he will not run against a Mayweather pay-per-view.
Another September 14 possibility for Showtime and Golden Boy is a fight between Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto. That, too, is a pay-per-view fight, expensive and worth the effort, because it will sell enough to make money. If Canelo-Cotto were booked for that date, would Top Rank run Marquez-Bradley on regular HBO, or would Canelo-Cotto be a SHO fight without PPV? Would one side back out of the date?
This is no longer a "Cold War," by the way. With strong TV allies and lines clearly drawn, this is now a legitimate TV and boxing business war. The sides are going to actively try to hurt the other, which isn't the worst thing in the world, but it makes for interesting scenarios like this one, which has so many possible outcomes.
If I were a betting man, and I am not, but let's say I were, we will not see Mayweather again on September 14, but there will be plenty more to this story before it's all settled.