By Jake Donovan

In the grand scheme of things, the welterweight showdown between Luis Carlos Abregu and Sadam Ali is a good solid matchup, though without major ramifications.

As far as the current state of boxing goes, it symbolizes the start of a renewed friendship.

The chief support to this weekend’s light heavyweight unification bout between Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev in Atlantic City marks the first time in more than three years that Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions have willingly done business together. The two sides were bitter rivals for far too long, denying fans the best possible matchups that could be made during boxing’s version of the Cold War.

In the wake of a major power restructure at Golden Boy Promotions, co-founder and president Oscar de la Hoya has seized full control of the company and has vowed to entertain all offers that make sense, regardless of promotional affiliation. The Hall of Fame boxer-turned-promoter extended an olive branch to Bob Arum—the head of Top Rank and de la Hoya’s former promoter—to help move past the bitterness and resentment from when Richard Schaefer was CEO of Golden Boy.

The two companies continue to discuss bouts for the future—chief among them a potential blockbuster showdown between World middleweight king Miguel Cotto and former 154 lb. champ Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. The supefight is being targeted for either May 2 in Las Vegas or in June at Madison Square Garden in New York City, depending on which side gets the better of negotiations.

For now, Top Rank and Golden Boy are enjoying the open forum that once again insists.

“This is just an indication that we at Golden Boy Promotions are willing to work with any promoter in the world, to make the fights the fans deserve,” de la Hoya stated during Thursday’s press conference in Atlantic City, for a show that marks his first as a promoter on HBO since Hopkins’ historic title win over Tavoris Cloud last March.

While the fans deserve the most for the money, the fighters were also major victims during the petty feud between the sport’s top two stateside-based promotional outfits.

“I’m very excited for this fight. I’m glad the promoters are back together doing business, because that’s an important thing for us, for the sport,” acknowledged Ali (20-0, 12KOs), an unbeaten weltwerweight from Brooklyn who served on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Boxing team during the summer games in Beijing. “I’m ready for this fight. I’ve been boxing for 18 years and have been waiting a long time for this moment.”

The bout marks a major step up in class for Ali, who nibbled around the edges for the first few years of his career, even serving as his own promoter for a spell. The 26-year old signed with Golden Boy last September, and now fights for the fifth time in just over 13 months.

Abregu (36-1, 29KOs) is the far less polished fighter, but boasts an equalizer that makes him a live dog in any fight.

“Sadam Ali is a great boxer with fast hands,” notes Carl Moretti, Vice President of Operations for Top Rank, Abregu’s promoter. “Abregu isn’t the fastest guy in the world, but he can punch holes through the wall.”

Abregu comes to town riding a seven-fight win streak dating back to 2011. The lone loss of his career came four years ago in his HBO debut, dropping a competitive but clear decision to Timothy Bradley, at the time unbeaten and the reigning 140 lb. titlist moving up in weight for the sake of staying busy.

Among his current run is an upset knockout win over previously unbeaten Thomas Dulorme more than two years ago in upstate New York. Just two fights have followed, although partly attributed to his struggling to find opponents willing enough to jump into the ring with him.

While waiting for that opportunity, Abregu enjoyed plenty of rounds in the gym with Ali as the two have previously sparred together. The sessions helped form a friendship, as both sides have remained amicable throughout the promotion.

“This is a sport and we are gentlemen,” explained Abregu. “In the ring, we’re going to fight. After the fight, we’ll all go back to getting along and being firends. But in the ring it’s going to be a fight.”

The welterweight bout opens up the televised doubleheader (Saturday, HBO, 10:45PM ET).

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox