Top Rank’s CEO Bob Arum is a very powerful man, believe it or not. Piss him off and he will send shock waves through out the boxing community. HBO pissed off Arum after turning down two elite Top Rank fighters, Kelly Pavlik and Miguel Cotto, then HBO gave the run around when Arum asked to telecast Yuriorkis Gamboa but he was more pissed off when HBO gave the original airing date to Golden Boy.
So, what does the old bastard do? Bob Arum closed a deal with Showtime and sister network CBS to handle the pay-per-view fight between pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley instead of HBO. Not only is Showtime going to air Pacquiao-Mosley but they will also air the bout between junior middleweight champ Miguel Cotto and Ricardo Mayorga.
Top Rank has two “Boxing After Dark” cards booked on HBO so far this year, the Feb. 19 show headlined by bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel against Nonito Donaire and a March 26 show headlined by featherweight champ Yuriorkis Gamboa against Jorge Solis.
Will this be the last time we ever see any Top Rank fighter on HBO?
Arum is destroying boxing. These fights don’t even desearve to be on PPV.
It’s different but at least we won’t have to sit through a pointless Pacquiao/Mosley 24/7. Plus works out with Arum’s “casual fan” plans for this fight with advertising it on CBS with morning show appearances and all that. I have to say I also prefer HBO PPV just seems right to me.
I prefer HBO as well but when its ppv it doesnt really matter because we’er still paying the same amount of money. It sucks for the non-ppv fights because The better fights are usually on HBO, its the only reason I have that channle.
I don’t see a problem. As a true fan, i just want to watch.
That sucks…. I prefer HBO instead of showtime… But oh well….
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