By Steve Kim
Unlike the past pay-per-view shows staged by Top Rank that feature former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao, this one will not be distributed by HBO Sports.
The network has declined to participate on the November 5th card which will take place from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao, who retired back in April after winning a twelve round unanimous decision over Timothy Bradley, will face once-beaten WBO welterweight titlist Jessie Vargas - and Top Rank, who promotes both fighters, will produce and distribute the event themselves.
Arum admits that his decision to have Top Rank handle the event themselves was partially inspired by the Ultimate Fighting Championship [UFC]. The leading mixed martial arts organization has successfully produced their own pay-per-views for many years. Their recent pay-per-view event, featuring the rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, reportedly generated over 1.6 million buys - a number that is significantly higher than any buyrate (so far) for a boxing pay-per-view in 2016.
The UFC, which at one point was on the verge of bankruptcy, was recently purchased for $4 billion dollars.
"We came to the decision because we're not fools and we saw what UFC has accomplished,"explained Bob Arum, the chairman of Top Rank on Thursday afternoon at the press conference to officially announce this promotion.
"UFC distributes their own fights on pay-per-view, they produce all the telecasts, they have complete control of all that and they've been a tremendous success. Now, if you say,'What says they've been a success?' I say the financial markets by paying them $4 billion. So I'll take half of that."
This will be the first fight since 2010 (when Pacquiao faced Shane Mosley on a card that was carried by Showtime Sports) that HBO will not be involved in a Pacquiao event.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
