Bad Left Hook reports that HBO has won the battle for distribution rights of Pacquiao-Marquez III. Time Warner, HBO’s parent company, will be heavily involvied in the promation of the November 12th fight.
Via Bad Left Hook:
As noted before, it appears that the greatest impact that Ken Hershman and Showtime made by “stealing” Manny’s last fight is that they’ve poked a lazy giant enough that it’s finally waking up. Pacquiao’s single fight with Showtime has been the biggest catalyst for change at HBO Sports.
I’m sure the folks at Showtime are disappointed that their relationship with Manny Pacquiao has turned into more of a fruitful flirtation than anything, but for boxing fans in general, a stronger, more aggressive HBO is good for all of us, and Showtime having a stronger presence in boxing made that happen.
More details from Boxingscene.com as it spoke with Bob Arum on the proposed promotion (via BLH):
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Promotion on TBS, which could mean that Pacquiao will be on Conan and/or Lopez Tonight. They talked up his not appearing on Letterman and still preferring Jimmy Kimmel last time out, but there’s really no reason he can’t do those shows and Kimmel, since it’s nothing to do with network TV.
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Promotion on TNT, which will include Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller. Boy, I can’t wait for Miller’s awkward forcing of personality. (I grew up a huge Reggie Miller and Pacers fan, but he is far from a natural commentator.)
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Promotion on CNN, including Arum and Pacquiao on Piers Morgan’s show.
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Repeats of HBO’s “24/7” on CNN, which is a pretty big deal, but still seems weird to me for now.
Payout Perspective:
Although this is just the proposed promotion behind the fight, it definitely shows that HBO learned from its misstep when it lost the Pacquiao-Mosley fight to Showtime. It also showed HBO that it had to bring in parent company Time Warner to utilize its host of channels to promote the fight.
Certainly, the expulsion of Ross Greenberg from the head of HBO Sports was due in part to the loss of Pacquiao-Mosley despite denials that it had nothing to do with it. The loss of the last fight ignited the fire of HBO that it no longer had a hold over the big fights. As BHL points out, HBO’s offer to Bob Arum shows that there is a legitimate competition between HBO and Showtime over boxing. This is a good thing for boxing.
If only we had some competition in MMA…