Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III on HBO PPV:
After several months of questions and rumors, it’s official today that the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez pay-per-view scheduled for November 12th will be produced and distributed by HBO. This comes after Pacquiao’s last fight, his May PPV against Shane Mosley, was done by Showtime. HBO has reclaimed the centerpiece of the boxing world and the pound for pound king, although as is the case with these deals, the price they will have to pay upfront, in promotion and in airing other fights and fighters, will have to be seen down the road.
Ostensibly, Pacquiao vs. Mosley was moved to Showtime because the network teamed up with CBS to get the fight some network television exposure. Presumably then, as has been the case with Mayweather vs. Ortiz and the buildup to that fight, Pacquiao vs. Marquez III will receive some level of exposure and promotion on the Turner networks.
But more than anything, this has been a power play by Bob Arum and Top Rank. When Pacquiao vs. Mosley moved to Showtime, the network also put on a Miguel Cotto vs. Ricardo Mayorga PPV, and pulled out the stops for a number of other features, events and fighters.
The network was also backing the comeback of former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. However, Pavlik recently pulled out of his scheduled fight which was to be aired on a special Shobox card on August 6th, causing the card to be canceled at the last moment. He was set to face Showtime fighter and 168 lbs champion Lucian Bute, next, but was unhappy with the nearly $1.4 million he would have made. Whether or not this had any bearing on the final Pacquiao vs. Marquez PPV negotiations is not known at this time.
Regardless, Pacquiao vs. Marquez III is now heading to HBO, and Pacquiao is once again an HBO fighter. For what it’s worth, Floyd Mayweather has always been an HBO-backed fighter, and having both fighters on the same network makes things a little bit easier should they finally stop years worth of trouble and decide to get in the ring with one another. It’s also likely that Cotto’s next fight, his rematch against Antonio Margarito in December, will now be an HBO fight as well.
