BOXING FANS, Filipinos or otherwise, in the Middle East wanting a piece of the historic fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on May 2 may do so via ABS-CBN?s The Filipino Channel (TFC).
In an announcement released at the weekend, ABS-CBN said that TFC signed a deal with Mayweather Promotions LLC and Top Rank, Inc. that made it the exclusive distributor on all media platforms in the Middle East of the much-awaited fight between two of the best boxers in history.
?At a time when we are witnessing one of the busiest pay-per-view calendars in boxing in a long time, to be chosen and trusted as the exclusive distributor of not just any marquee PPV boxing event but the ?Fight of the Century? is a milestone that we are truly proud of,? said Kai Rodriguez, ABS-CBN managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa operations, in a statement.
?This solidifies our commitment to strengthen our live sports entertainment offerings, deliver these on our TFC platforms to one of the largest and most engaged audiences in the region, and expand the reach of our content through signed carriage agreements with industry partners,? she added.
As part of the deal, boxing fans in the region — May 3 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and 5 a.m. in the United Arab Emirates — will get to witness the ?Fight of the Century? live from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas through pay-per-view on the OSN, eLifeTV and Du cable networks.
TFC is also making the mega-fight available in cinemas across the Gulf in a tie-up with Novo Cinemas as well as online via TFC.tv.
ABS-CBN Global Chief Operating Officer Raffy Lopez, for his part, said that TFC will always be instrumental in bringing the biggest sporting events to fans around the world.
?TFC has always been at the ringside of numerous major sporting events in history,? he said. ?… Now, as exclusive distributor in the Middle East and viewing destination platform for the Mayweather-Pacquiao event, all boxing fans there will get better than ringside seats as they watch the fight from the comfort of their homes and enjoy world-class sports entertainment.?
Pacquiao-Mayweather is a welterweight world championship unification bout. Mr. Pacquiao (57-5-2) is riding a three-fight winning streak and is angling to hand Mr. Mayweather (47-0) his first professional career defeat.
The fight is hailed as the most lucrative fight event in history and is expected to be watched by millions all over the world. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
