EDINBURGH CASTLE MAY HOST DREAM FIGHT

next contest with IBF mandatory challenger Apinun Khongsong are close to a conclusion, with today being the date set for purse bids unless a late agreement can be hammered out. Arum signed the 29-year-old Scot to his Top Rank roster two weeks ago and has a super-lightweight unification clash with WBC and WBO kingpin Jose Ramirez pencilled in for later this year, as well as a future clash with welterweight star — and stablemate — Terence Crawford. Taylor has already detailed his ambition to defend his titles on the esplanade in front of the castle and Arum is working on the basis that anything is possible. ‘We would absolutely be looking at that,’ he said. ‘I can’t really talk about (the castle) because that would be up to my technical people, but I assume that there wouldn’t be a problem that couldn’t be solved. ‘We promote Mick Conlan from Northern Ireland and did a match last year in the fairgrounds in Belfast. ‘A huge crowd turned up and it was a great night.’ Featherweight Conlan defeated Argentine Diego Alberto Ruiz last August in front of a 10,000-plus open-air crowd at Falls Park, with Arum admitting that the success of the promotion gives him added appetite for another special show with WBA and IBF belt-holder Taylor in Scotland. ‘We beamed the Conlan fight back to the United States in the afternoon and we would love to promote a fight in Scotland,’ he said. ‘We are going back to Northern Ireland in May, with Carl Frampton fighting for a 130lb title and I love promoting fights at the other end of the pond. ‘Truth be told, the best fans in the world now come from the United Kingdom.’ Taylor has been spotted in Dubai in recent weeks with Tyson Fury’s old trainer Ben Davison as he plots his future following a split from Shane McGuigan and Cyclone Promotions. Meanwhile, the Prestonpans fighter’s team at Top Rank remain in talks with unbeaten Thai Khongsong’s promoters — with Arum optimistic that a deal will be done to prevent the contest being put out to offers by the IBF today. ‘We are working on that,’ added Arum. ‘I think we will come to a resolution before that.’