by David P. Greisman
The fact that Manny Pacquiao’s next fight will be airing without HBO’s backing — the first time since Pacquiao fought Shane Mosley in May 2011 on a pay-per-view distributed by Showtime — has a lot to do with the fight that follows it two weeks later.
Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas is on Nov. 5. But HBO already was planning on distributing the light heavyweight title fight between Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward on pay-per-view on Nov. 19.
That’s two pay-per-view shows in the span of 14 days. There’s a strong possibility that fans who don’t want to pay for both may choose one over the other, with some opting for Pacquiao instead.
“I’m not going to say I don’t think it’ll have any impact,” said Kathy Duva of Main Events, which promotes Kovalev “Of course it’ll have some. In the end, people will have to choose between the two. I think it’s an easy choice.”
At least publicly, she says it doesn’t bother her.
“There’s no point getting frustrated over things I can’t control,” Duva said.
This is the first time for both as a pay-per-view headliner. And it’s also a rare occurrence, Duva said, noting that it’s rare for two boxers as high up in the pound-for-pound list and in the same division to face each other. There are some who argue that the Kovalev-Ward winner should be the new No. 1 on observers’ pound-for-pound list.
That, she said, contrasts this with the less than stellar sales that occurred earlier in the year when two other top fighters in another division, junior welterweights Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol, fought each other.
“It’s a historic event, and I think that’s going to help drive sales in a way it didn’t for other pay-per-views,” Duva said.
Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com
