Pacquiao returns to HBO PPV for Marquez fight
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said Friday that the Nov. 12 welterweight title fight between pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, the Ring lightweight champion, will be distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View.
Arum declined to provide more details, saying he wanted to coordinate with HBO before going any further.
The fight marks a return to HBO for Pacquiao, who along with Floyd Mayweather Jr. is one of the sport's two biggest draws and best fighters. Arum and Top Rank president Todd duBoef worked a unique deal with Showtime for Pacquiao's last fight, on May 7 against Shane Mosley, in which they leveraged the power of CBS.
The fight was distributed by Showtime on pay-per-view, but CBS lent its muscle, airing the fight's preview show on network television, giving it advertising in prime time, as well as during the NCAA men's basketball tournament. It also promoted the shows on the many CBS owned-and-operate radio stations.
That show did over 1.3 million sales, the highest of Pacquiao's career, though a final number has not been announced.
Though Arum would not discuss details further, it's likely that the deal with HBO will leverage some of its sister networks, such as TNT and TBS, in order to help give the fight broader promotion.
The failure to keep Pacquiao at HBO Sports reportedly hurt the standing of its former president, Ross Greenburg, badly. When Greenburg announced his resignation in June after nearly 11 years in the position, he insisted the loss of Pacquiao had nothing to do with it. Numerous sources, however, said that HBO co-president Richard Plepler and director of programming Michael Lombardo were furious at Greenburg for allowing Pacquiao to go to its rival.
Lombardo is now running HBO Sports on an interim basis until a new president is hired.
The move is a boon for HBO, since it will now air fights involving Pacquiao and Mayweather within two months of each other. Mayweather, who hasn't fought since meeting Mosley on May 1, 2010, will fight Victor Ortiz for the World Boxing Council welterweight title on Sept. 17 in Las Vegas on HBO Pay-Per-View.
