Timothy Bradley-Jessie Vargas winner could face Sadam Ali in Middle East

LOS ANGELES - Bob Arum has been talking for years about promoting a fight in the Middle East. He may be close to achieving that reality.

The Top Rank CEO told Paste BN Sports on Monday that he'd like to pit the winner of June 27's Timothy Bradley-Jessie Vargas WBO welterweight title bout against a boxer who would draw in that area of the world.

"The winner of this fight would look to fight the leading contender, Sadam Ali," Arum said. "And we're looking to do a big show in the (Middle) East. That would be a tremendous attraction."

MORE: Bradley-Vargas will crown new WBO champ

Ali, the son of Yemeni immigrants, lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and has developed a following there. The 2008 Olympian's last two bouts were televised on HBO, impressive victories against Carlos Abregu and Francisco Santana. Ali (22-0, 13 KOs) is the WBO's next available contender, so the winner on June 27 will be mandated to face Ali anyway. He's promoted by Golden Boy, who now does business with Top Rank.

"People said I was talking for years about Macau, now we've done eight fights there," Arum said.

The most likely, and safest spot for a Middle East bout would be Dubai.

Said Ali in a message to Paste BN Sports on Tuesday: "That is definitely something I'll be interested in, we just have to wait and see if Oscar (De La Hoya) and Bob can make it happen."