Top Rank Tightens Hold on Featherweight 'Sweepstakes'

Top Rank won a purse bid on Tuesday to match 32-year-old, IBF champion, Cristobal Cruz, and, 29-year-old, challenger, Orlando Salido, in a clash of veteran, Mexican, featherweights (126 pounds) -- further tightening the promotional company's grip on a division of talented fighters.

"We won a purse bid today for the fight between Cristobal Cruz and Orlando Salido," said matchmaker, Carl Moretti, of Top Rank, which handles Salido.

"We we won the bid with $251,000, and [Cruz's promoter,] Artie Pelullo, came in second with $250,000," said Moretti. "These guys [Cruz and Salido] are probably going to fight in May, so the winner of that fight probably sets himself up for a payday in the fall."

Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum, has said that he wants to eventually match 28-year-old, Cuban-born, WBA titlist, Yuriorkis Gamboa (17-0, 15 KOs), of Miami, against 26-year-old, southpaw, WBO king, Juan Manuel Lopez (28-0, 25 KOs), of Puerto Rico -- each of whom Arum promotes. (Lopez is pictured above).

As it stands, Gamboa is set to make the third defense of his crown against 26-year-old, Argentinian Jonathan Victor Barros (28-0-1, 16 KOs) on March 27 at The Sporthalle in Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.

Lopez, meanwhile, is in line to defend against 22-year-old Bernabe Concepcion (28-3-1, 15 KOs), of Rizal, Philippines, "in June or July," according to Moretti.

If Gamboa gets past Barros, Moretti said that he is likely to meet 5-foot-11, 33-year-old Celestino Caballero (33-2, 23 KOs), of Panama City, Panama, who has won 14 consecutive bouts -- nine of them by knockout -- and who is coming off of August's eighth-round knockout of Franciso Leal.

Caballero is expected to rise from super bantamweight (122 pounds), where he holds the IBF and WBA belts, for a featherweight clash with Indonesia's 22-year-old, Daud Yordan (25-0, 19 KOs), whom he could meet on April 10, according to ESPN's Dan Rafael.

Caballero-Yordan would take place on the undercard of match up featuring WBC welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Andre Berto (25-0, 11 KOs), of Winter Haven, Fla., defending his title against southpaw, former world champion, Carlos Quintana (27-2, 21 KOs), of Puerto Rico, at the Bank of America Center in Sunrise, Fla.

Other potential entries into the "featherweight sweepstakes," as Moretti called it, include Dominican Republican-born WBC king Elio Rojas (21-1, 13 KOs), and WBA super champ Chris John (43-0-2, 22 KOs) of Indonesia.

Cruz-Salido is a rematch, as Cruz (39-11-2, 23 KOs) will be making the fourth defense of the crown he won by split-decision over Salido (33-10-2, 22 KOs) in October of 2008.

While Cruz is coming off of December's draw with Ricardo Castillo, Salido has scored consecutive knockouts of Leonardo Resendiz, and, Victor Rodriguez, respectively, in three, and, five rounds, in June, and, July.

"Well, the winner of that fight [Cruz-Salido] can be added to the sweepstakes," said Moretti, adding that the winner of
Cruz-Salido is a likely challenger to Lopez.

"It puts a title hope in there for a guy who might not be as high profile as the other guys," said Moretti. "It puts him into the potential of being in a title unification fight against one of the bigger guys."