HBO has officially dropped Manny Pacquiao. Pacquaio is set to return to the ring against Jessie Vargas on November 5th. The news of this announcement did not exactly go over well in the boxing world. Jessie Vargas is a good fighter, but not exactly a PPV star.
Almost immediately after this fight was announced there were rumors swirling that HBO was not going to pick it up. Well, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum talked with Ring TV and confirmed the news.
"Definitely it’s not going to be HBO. HBO had a contract and decided to pass because it was two weeks in front of their Ward-Kovalev fight."
There is also more to this story as HBO has decided to walk away from the rest of their contractual rights to Pacquiao's contract.
This has now become a fight without a home. ESPN, Turner, and Showtime are now being shopped to see if they have any interest in the fight.
"I haven’t spoken to them (Showtime). But there would be no impediment to that. When I get back next week, Stephen (Espinoza) will be one of the guys I’m calling."
This is a hard sell for any network to put on PPV. Especially with football season coming up and in full swing in November.
Almost immediately after this fight was announced there were rumors swirling that HBO was not going to pick it up. Well, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum talked with Ring TV and confirmed the news.
"Definitely it’s not going to be HBO. HBO had a contract and decided to pass because it was two weeks in front of their Ward-Kovalev fight."
There is also more to this story as HBO has decided to walk away from the rest of their contractual rights to Pacquiao's contract.
This has now become a fight without a home. ESPN, Turner, and Showtime are now being shopped to see if they have any interest in the fight.
"I haven’t spoken to them (Showtime). But there would be no impediment to that. When I get back next week, Stephen (Espinoza) will be one of the guys I’m calling."
This is a hard sell for any network to put on PPV. Especially with football season coming up and in full swing in November.
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