Pound4Pound.com spoke to Lou on Friday afternoon and we thought you might like to check out what Lou had to say.

 

Pound4Pound: Hello Lou, thanks for your time! How did that Rocky Balboa premier in Hollywood go for you on Wednesday night?

 

DiBella: Great! Better than I thought, let's get to your questions!

 

P4P: Great...First, just this past week the WBA stripped Jermain of....... (Dibella cuts in)

 

DiBella: I couldn't give a rats ass and quite frankly I don't think Jermain could give a rats ass either! The WBA is the most unpredictable and irrational of all the organizations first of all.

Second of all, Jermain has had that belt up through this fight and we sort of saw this coming because we have had some disagreement with sanctioning fees in the past, they didn't have supervisors at his last couple of fights, at one point he was pulled off their website as Champion and then he reappeared, so it's not like it's so shocking to us, and we are happy he got to walk into the ring his last 2 fights with The WBA belt. But right now, the unified Champion gets screwed on sanctioning fees, with the more belts you have the sanctioning fees become impossible and crazy, so it is what it is. Everyone knows who the real Middleweight champ is and I don't think Mariano Carrera is going to get much respect as the Middleweight Champion. But it doesn't really matter, I wish Carrera and The WBA well. Jermain Taylor is the indisputable Middleweight Champion, and that's what is important! Jermain is the WBO & WBC Champion and they both have been fair and they are proud to have Jermain as their Champion.

 

P4P: So what can we look for from Jermain? There's a lot of options, Mora, Calz.....( DiBella cuts in )

 

DiBella: It's Christmas in 10 days, the kid just got stitches, he fought another hard fight, that's 4 in a row, I don't need to be figuring it out right now! So we will give it a few days, maybe even after the holidays before we start doing any serious planning.

 

P4P: Last question, in regard to Kassim Ouma... ( DiBella cuts in)

 

DiBella: I think Kassim Ouma's stock went up not down, I told the whole World thought it was a hard fight. I didn't think it was an easy fight, that's why he wasn't the first choice of Jermains management or myself. The guy throws 100 punches a round, and he was bigger for this fight, stronger as well. He took huge shots, but he kept coming and coming even though he was the weaker guy. All respect goes to Kassim Ouma.

 

P4P: Mr. DiBella, thank you for your time and Happy Holidays to you.

 

DiBella: It was my pleasure, Happy Holidays to you!

 

I promised Lou that was my last question so I didn't follow it up, but one has to wonder, if Kassim wasn't their first choice for this Arakansas fight then who was? My guess is the first choice was Sergio Mora who still is on the short list for 2007.

 

Be that as it may, the table doesn't appear to be clearly set for Jermain or DiBella at this time. Rumors constantly float that it's Mora in April for Jermain. But nothing is finalized there yet. Should Calzaghe get by his Contender star (coincidence?), Peter Manfredo, I truly expect to see Jermain & Joe in a New York summertime brawl. And Winky? There has been nothing definitive coming out from HBO, but numerous sources have told me that Winky's numbers coming out of his snoozer in Florida against Quartey were disastrous...all time record setting low disastrous.

With that said, if Lou had it his way Winky would never get a sniff of Jermain next year, but it may not be his decision alone and something tells me a Winky vs. Jermain rematch could easily take place in 2007, bad numbers or not.

 

Throw in Edison Miranda calling them both out and the likliehood of Jermain and Winky squaring off becomes all the more real 'cuz I highly doubt either one of them want any part of "The Panther".