Bob Arum: Terence Crawford vs. Raymundo Beltran on Nov. 29

It was reported that Bob Arum was trying to put Raymundo Beltran in with Terence Crawford on Nov. 29th, and it now looks that the fight is pretty-much official, according to RingTV. At this point its pretty much common knowledge that Beltran was robbed for the title when he got a draw out of his fight with Ricky Burns last September, but he came right back to take a unanimous decision over Arash Usmanee this past April. That has put him right back in line for another title-shot where he'll face the versatile Crawford in his hometown.

In Bob Arum's true salesmanship fashion, he spent much of the time talking about fighting in Omaha and building a hotbed for boxing there, rather than the actual fight itself:

"The target date is Nov. 29, and I think that as enthusiastic as the crowd was the first time, I think that there will be even more excitement the second time for Terence," said Arum of Crawford, who floored Gamboa once each in the fifth and eighth rounds and twice in the last.

"You have to remember that the first time, we were selling to people on the fight who hadn't seen one ever before. I would say that a great majority of the people who attended the fight, that was the first fight show that they had ever seen."

"It's going to be the Saturday after the Thanksgiving weekend, so that makes a lot of sense. So, now, the people there are more familiar with boxing, so it builds," said Arum.

"If you give them good stuff, one thing builds on the other, so I think that they crowd will be even more enthusiastic, and we'll open up more of the building."

Yes Bob, as much as we'd all love to see you open up more of the building so you can make more money, we're really much more interested in the fight. I, for one, think its a very interesting match, though I do think it will be fought out in a very technical fashion which won't entice the casual fans. Perhaps that's why Arum scarcely said a word about the stylistic match-up.

Beltran (29-6-1, 17 KOs) is a very prolific counter-puncher, which is why he was used as Pacquiao's main sparring partner for several years when preparing him for Juan Manuel Marquez. Crawford, on the other hand, is a more versatile fighter who can do a bit of everything, but I think he's still mostly inclined to box and counter-punch as well. Neither man is particularly aggressive with their punch output, which should create some dull moments in the fight, but it will definitely be a good chess match.