It has been confirmed that Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and American Jessie Vargas will slug it out on November 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada for the WBO welterweight title currently being held by the latter.
However, unlike in his previous fights, it will not be under HBO presentation as Top Rank boss Bob Arum has decided to self-promote the pay-per-view production by going directly to the networks.
Arum said that his decision was sort of groundbreaking in a way because it will be changing the status quo of boxing pay-per-view productions from thereon.
While he admits that having HBO distribute the pay-per-view productions was convenient, he said that they have done the math and discovered that by directly negotiating with the TV companies, they can save as much as 7.5% charge that usually goes to HBO’s production arm from the fight sales, reports CBS Sports.
No need to negotiate with HBO
He explained that they don’t see the need to negotiate with HBO if they can get all the publicity and the promotion from others by supplying it to the networks that have a much bigger audience than HBO.
Without HBO, there will be no 24/7 series on the fight in the same format but the Top Rank boss is looking to take a different route to supplement the promotion of the fight by selling programming to networks like CBS, NBC, and ABC.
Arum explained that it would also be like 24/7 but it is going to be more innovative. He said that they are going to do major pieces that have never been seen before.
He also explained that they are going to take cameras right into the Senate and see the Senators considering bills, which is in obvious reference to the current political stature of Manny Pacquiao as a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines. Arum assured that it is going to be fascinating.
Analysts think that the decision to self-promote the pay-per-view is an interesting one and also makes business sense on the surface. However, there’s a reason HBO and Showtime are the two dominant houses of boxing television and it’s because they have the best in the business as far as producing, commentating, and shooting the action.
But if Top Rank can find a way to put on a similar level of production, it could certainly shake up the boxing pay-per-view landscape in the future.
Training session on the way
Over in Manila, Manny Pacquiao has already started his training session for the Jessie Vargas fight scheduled on November 5.
Given his many preoccupations, it is now taking the Filipino boxing icon a little bit longer to get into third gear each time he returns to training. But when he steps on the gas for short bursts of powerful combinations on the mitts, the punches still make the familiar crack, details The Ring.
The fight with Jessie Vargas is Pacquiao’s first outside of a casino since his 2010 win over Antonio Margarito at the Dallas Cowboys’ Stadium in Texas.
Despite co-starring in the most financially lucrative boxing event in history last year against Floyd Mayweather Jr., and the slim prospects of a rematch, he continues to fight on, with promoter Bob Arum saying Pacquiao would fight two more in 2017.
When asked why he decided to come out of retirement for the second time in his career, Manny Pacquiao said that he missed boxing. He said that he grew up in boxing so when he stopped, he felt lonely. He also explained that boxing is his passion.
Pacquiao says he will train in Manila for the Vargas fight and leave for the US to fight when the Philippine Senate is on break.
He had been criticized heavily in the Philippines for being among the most chronically absent congressmen during his two three-year terms as a Representative of his region from 2010 to 2016.