HBO - Showtime set to square off to secure Pacquiao vs. Marquez III

After deciding to air Manny Pacquiao's bout against Shane Mosley earlier this month on Showtime instead of industry standard HBO, Top Rank boss Bob Arum sent ripples through the sport.

Many predicted that heads would roll at HBO, who with the continued absence of Floyd Mayweather had essentially lost their biggest attraction.

Some talked of the possibility of boxing returning to network television in the near future, while others wondered about the possibilities of pay per views backed by mainstream network advertising and potentially attracting new fans to the sport.

Undeniably it was a brilliant move by Arum, who in the coming months will receive lucrative offers from both HBO and Showtime for Pacquiao's November clash with Juan Manuel Marquez.



For the time being, and with the pay per view numbers for Pacquiao vs. Mosley being widely reported as between 1.3 and 1.4 million, Showtime would appear to have the edge.

Bob Arum was quoted by BoxingScene's Lem Satterfield as saying:

"Here's what I can say. Whoever offers the best and the most assets to us in publicizing and promoting the fight, my feeling is that we will go with them."

Showtime also have the backing of parent network CBS, who along with television appearances for Pacquiao can offer far greater reach with their advertising, 115 million homes compared to HBO's 28 million.

Clearly then HBO will either have to pay through the nose or partner with a larger network themselves if they hope to attract Arum and Pacquiao back into the fold.

Whether Arum will favor a little extra currency in favor of more actual fans watching if the overall profit is essentially the same however is far from a certainty.

Many however are of the opinion that HBO's loss of Pacquiao was largely their own fault, and that Arum's motivations in moving the fight were more than purely financial.

While once the leading light for boxing, HBO's lack of organization with a long series of ill-advised and puzzling decisions over recent years has seen viewing figures fall dramatically and many promoters lose faith.



Bob Arum and numerous other promoters for example have accused HBO of favoring Al Haymon and Golden Boy fighters.

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Seemingly perfectly suitable bouts have been scrapped and opponents rejected for some fighters, while others appear to be able to fight whoever they choose with impunity.

For example Sebastian Zbik was rejected in March as an opponent for middleweight king Sergio Martinez, but then later approved for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

More recently Paul Williams vs. Nobuhiro Ishida was initially approved, then downgraded to a different broadcast, and then cancelled all in the space of a few days.

Double standards and indecisiveness not being admirable qualities for a network that has a great deal of influence on the sport as a whole.

Showtime aren't without faults of their own by any means. One only has to look at the mishandling of the Super Six Boxing Classic to see that they still have much to learn.

Issues with fighters dropping out as well as home decisions have plagued the tournament, as have numerous delays.

They are trying new things however, and seemingly aren't as afraid to learn from their mistakes as HBO seem to be. The Bantamweight tournament dispensed with the round robin concept and only used four participants, big improvement.

Unless HBO can offer Arum something that Showtime can't come close to matching then, the latter would seem the most likely choice to air Pacquiao vs. Marquez.

Arum's perceived mistreatment by HBO in the past coupled with higher pay per view numbers on Showtime will likely count for a lot even if the money is equal. Also with HBO he has constant competition for dates from Golden Boy, while with Showtime, he can essentially rule the roost.


Source: examiner.com