Photo credit: Naoki Fukuda

Washington, D.C. — Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is in discussions for an HBO doubleheader that would feature WBO junior welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford against Ruslan Provodnikov in the main event and WBC champion Viktor Postol in the co-feature, likely against Adrian Granados, in June in Los Angeles, Arum told RingTV.com on Friday.

Arum would then move to make a match between WBO featherweight titleholder Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters for June 11 at Madison Square Garden with Puerto Rican phenom Felix Verdejo in the co-feature, he said.

“I’m going to suggest that to Peter,” Arum said of HBO boxing chief Peter Nelson. Arum seemed more optimistic that he’ll be able to find dates and strike a deal with HBO this time around compared to last month when he met with Showtime executives about putting some of his fights on their network because HBO didn’t have a date readily available. At the time, Arum was in discussions to do a doubleheader involving Lomachenko and Postol in separate fights but has since modified that strategy.

Arum again mentioned WBA titleholder Adrien Broner as a possible option for Crawford down the road in a pay-per-view fight, a topic he brought up to Showtime boxing head Stephen Espinoza and Showtime chairman Matt Blank when they had dinner recently, Arum said. The 84-year-old promoter said they were interested.

Arum believes that Verdejo, 22, was playing too much to the crowd in his last outing when he easily outpointed Willian Silva, but seemed to take his foot off the accelerator and coast to a win.

“I think he was a little off and paying more attention to his fans and he didn’t do what he should have done,” Arum said. “He beat him easy, but still … It happens with a young prospect.”

Arum flew to Washington, D.C., on Thursday night to see if Jessie Vargas can capture a vacant WBO welterweight title against Sadam Ali. The promoter’s arrival was a surprise to some, since he has just one fighter on the card on Saturday at the DC Armory. But Arum has high hopes for Vargas, and he mentioned a possible match with Brandon Rios if Vargas prevails.

“He’s really in the mix for some big fights if he wins,” Arum told RingTV.com. “That’s what we’re hoping for. He’s a great kid. That’s why I came. I didn’t have to schlep all this way — it’s not my promotion. But I owed it to the kid.”

Rios’ name was the first out of his mouth as an option for his next fight. “There’s a whole bunch of options,” Arum said. “He could fight Brandon Rios. That’s a good fight. A lot of good fights for him.”

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