Boxers Manny Pacquiao (L) of the Philippines and Jessie Vargas of the US pose during their final news conference at The Wynn Las Vegas on November 2, 2016. Pacquiao will challenge Vargas for the WBO Welterweight Championship title November 5, 2016 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. / AFP PHOTO / John GURZINSKI
No “24/7” infomercials were shown on television to promote Manny Pacquiao’s comeback bout with Jessie Vargas this Sunday, Manila time.
So don’t expect a blockbuster HBO production for the WBO welterweight encounter at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, either.
Jim Lampley and Roy Jones Jr. won’t be calling the fight. There won’t be any compubox stats from Harold Lederman and tough post-fight questions from Max Kellerman.
The fight is not on HBO pay per view, period.
The premier cable TV network passed on Pacquiao vs Vargas because it was too close to another HBO PPV—the Sergey Kovalev-Andrei Ward matchup on Nov. 19.
Without HBO, Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum is distributing the PPV himself and expects to turn up huge numbers.
The last time Pacman fought minus HBO was five years ago when boxing’s only eight division world champion scored a dominant decision over Sugar Shane Mosley on Showtime in a promotion that posted 1.3 million PPV buys.
Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 knockouts), whose retirement did not last very long, is no longer king of the box office. But he remains a massive favorite to take the belt of Vargas who will enter the ring with a nearly flawless 27-1 record.
The real news from the fight will be the outcome of PPV sales. To win HBO back, Arum’s Top Rank Promotions will have to surpass the dismal 400,000 PPV subscriptions from Manny’s supposedly farewell fight with Timothy Bradle Jr. last April.
In a nostalgic twist to Sunday’s main event, Bradley will join the new broadcast team of Stephen Smith and Brian Kenny at ringside.
As I write this, Ricky Vargas faced long odds to overturn a ruling barring him from running for president of the Philippine Olympic Committee. Overstaying Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., the guy Vargas is trying to dethrone, has denied that politics was behind the disbarment.