Report: Manny Pacquiao's next fight will air on ESPN, kick off new Top Rank series
Promoter Bob Arum is set to announce new streaming network as the boxing landscape shifts
Manny Pacquiao's July return in Australia appears to finally have a television home in the United States, one which will kick off a new direction for promoter Top Rank.
Pacquiao's welterweight title defense against unheralded Jeff Horn on July 2 in Brisbane (July 1 in the U.S.) will air on ESPN, according to a RingTV.com report citing multiple sources. In an announcement expected next week, the card will kick off a partnership between Top Rank and ESPN/ABC featuring seven shows this year and a minimum of 18 more in 2018.
Unlike ESPN's current series with Golden Boy, which largely broadcasts young prospects in showcase bouts, the Top Rank deal would feature highly competitive title fights typically seen on the promotion's longtime premium cable partner, HBO.
In addition to Pacquiao-Horn, ESPN is expected to broadcast a highly anticipated junior lightweight title rematch between pound-for-pound star Vasyl Lomachenko and veteran brawler Orlando Salido, who handed the two-time Olympic gold medalist his lone pro defeat. A third show in August is expected to feature unbeaten Terence Crawford in a junior welterweight title unification bout against Julius Indongo.
It's unknown whether Top Rank is completely severing ties with HBO after 35 years, but the development is a major blow for the outlet just the same. With HBO facing budget issues for the second straight year, and with few dates available to promoters outside of pay-per-view fights, Top Rank and 85-year-old chairman Bob Arum have been forced to get creative.
"Boxing, on a global basis, is one of the biggest sports in the world," Arum told RingTV.com last month. "Unfortunately, we haven't seen that in the United States because everything is either on pay-per-view or on two premium networks [HBO and Showtime], which have a limited audience.
"For example, they did a survey at HBO. Of the 30 million subscribers, less than five percent really wanted to watch boxing. That's a million and a half households. A lot of those households will have other appointments when a fight is aired. So you're dealing with a f---ing small audience."
