Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank
Could Manny save HBO from disaster in November? He certainly has the right kind of opponent facing him and Marquez has promised to leave it all out in the ring.
A month after the biggest PPV of the year ended in controversy, between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Victor Ortiz, HBO has still not released the official PPV numbers.
Could it be because they are still trying to tally up all the PPV buys? I doubt it. Most likely, the scenario is that numbers came in well short of expectations and management is trying to bury it under the rug.
The latest PPV event with Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson was not expected to generate huge numbers, but to add an insult to injury, a bizarre conclusion with Hopkins being thrown down on the canvas for a TKO loss did not do much to help deteriorating image of the sport of boxing.
HBO, the PPV king of boxing, is counting on pound for pound Manny Pacquiao to help them to reverse the latest trend. The most popular fighter on the planet is doing his part. Normally a sweet and mild mannered athlete, Manny has an edge to him concerning his upcoming bout with rival, Juan Manuel Marquez. He is tired of listening to Marquez claim that he won their two previous encounters and wants to erase all doubts, when they meet to settle the score on November 12 in Las Vegas.
Manny says this time it is personal.
He has been training like a man possessed. Strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza has to pace his star not to burn out too soon. Tickets to the live event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena have been sold out for over a month, but HBO and Bob Arum are pulling out all the stops promoting the fight to boost PPV sales. The global promotional tour that spanned three countries, Philippines, Mexico and United States was launched to announce the fight. HBO has teamed up with CNN to deliver their renowned 24/7 series to a lot wider audiences. The first episode of 24/7 is scheduled to be aired this Saturday.
According to Las Vegas bookmakers, Manny Pacquiao is an 8 to 1 favorite to win this fight and you will be hard pressed to find a pundit who believes that Marquez can defy the odds.
The stage is set; there is drama, there is rich history between the two culprits and there is animosity.
Will the fans embrace this match up?
