HBO throws weight at Pacquiao-Marquez
After a one-fight split, Manny Pacquiao and HBO are back together.
HBO Pay Per View will televise Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title fight against Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand Garden.
Pacquiao’s last fight, a victory over Shane Mosley on May 7 at the MGM Grand, was televised by Showtime PPV.
Showtime made a bid to retain Pacquiao, boxing’s pound-for-pound champion. But HBO, owned by Time Warner, which also owns CNN, provided more crossover exposure, according to Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao.
Another factor might have been HBO’s decision to have network co-presidents Richard Plepler and Michael Lombardo negotiate directly with Top Rank in place of Ross Greenburg, who resigned last month as head of HBO Sports and whose relationship with Arum had deteriorated in the past year.
“They were both unbelievable proposals,” Arum said Friday. “We just felt that with the new guys — Richard and Michael — that HBO was so dedicated to bringing all of the Time Warner (media) platforms, including CNN, aboard. We felt we could reach a segment of the population we couldn’t reach before.”
Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 knockouts) and Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KOs) will be fighting each other for the third time. They fought to a draw in May 2004, and Pacquiao won a split decision in March 2008.
Despite losing Pacquiao, Showtime said it will remain in the fight business.
“The Pacquiao-Mosley fight in May re-established Showtime as a major player in the pay-per-view arena,” spokesman Chris DeBlasio said. “With that, we look forward to future opportunities in PPV with all the promoters.”
Pacquiao-Mosley received a lot of exposure on CBS, which owns Showtime, including during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The fight drew 1.4 million buys, a number Arum said he thinks is possible on HBO for Pacquiao-Marquez.
“I believe we can,” Arum said. “But numbers aren’t the be-all, end-all. We want to broaden the base of our audience to boxing and expose fighters like Manny to as many people as possible.
“By being on CNN, being on Piers Morgan, we think it’s important we reach that intellectual element if we are to elevate boxing.”
The deal is for the Pacquiao-Marquez fight only, Arum said.
As part of its promotion, HBO will produce a “Pacquiao-Marquez 24/7” reality series, and at least one of the segments will repeat on CNN.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.