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There was an aura of civility—forced or otherwise—among all parties present at the final press conference for the epic May 2 showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Little to no trash talk took place at the press event, which was staged at the KA Theater, which resides on MGM Grand property in Las Vegas, where Saturday’s superfight takes place.
With that civility came restraint and a swallowing of pride, even as Bob Arum—Pacquiao’s longtime promoter and Leonard Ellerbe—CEO of Mayweather Promotions—traded barbs when the discussion turned to the networks involved.
American cable giants Showtime and HBO are working in a joint effort to present this weekend’s Pay-Per-View show, just the second time in history the two networks have collaborated for a boxing event, the other coming in June ’02 when Lennox Lewis (HBO) knocked out Mike Tyson (Showtime) in what at the time served as the most lucrative PPV telecast in boxing history.
Mayweather has headlined the only two shows to have surpassed that mark, with his wins over Oscar de la Hoya (May ’07) and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (Sept. ’13) representing the most PPVs sold and highest grossing events, respectively. This weekend figures to top each of those shows and go down as the richest ever, though the two sides seemed to disagree on who is more responsible.
“One thing is beyond controversy. HBO is the #1 premium pay channel in the world,” stated Arum, in a proverbial flip of the finger to Mayweather’s side of the dais that also included Showtime head Stephen Espinoza. “It’s soon to become the #1 pay-streaming channel with the launch of HBO now. In sports, HBO puts on the best and most important matches. [Click Here To Read More]
With that civility came restraint and a swallowing of pride, even as Bob Arum—Pacquiao’s longtime promoter and Leonard Ellerbe—CEO of Mayweather Promotions—traded barbs when the discussion turned to the networks involved.
American cable giants Showtime and HBO are working in a joint effort to present this weekend’s Pay-Per-View show, just the second time in history the two networks have collaborated for a boxing event, the other coming in June ’02 when Lennox Lewis (HBO) knocked out Mike Tyson (Showtime) in what at the time served as the most lucrative PPV telecast in boxing history.
Mayweather has headlined the only two shows to have surpassed that mark, with his wins over Oscar de la Hoya (May ’07) and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (Sept. ’13) representing the most PPVs sold and highest grossing events, respectively. This weekend figures to top each of those shows and go down as the richest ever, though the two sides seemed to disagree on who is more responsible.
“One thing is beyond controversy. HBO is the #1 premium pay channel in the world,” stated Arum, in a proverbial flip of the finger to Mayweather’s side of the dais that also included Showtime head Stephen Espinoza. “It’s soon to become the #1 pay-streaming channel with the launch of HBO now. In sports, HBO puts on the best and most important matches. [Click Here To Read More]
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