You know Rep. Manny Pacquiao has finally arrived.
But it took more than a year for Home Box Office (HBO) Sports to at last concede that boxing now revolves around the Filipino boxing superstar.
By tweaking the May 7 date to accommodate Pacquiao instead of allowing Golden Boy Promotion to hang on to the date (it was long reserved by Golden Boy), HBO is likewise sending a loud message.
Pacquiao is now king of pay per view boxing even if Oscar de la Hoya is still its favorite promoter.
When de la Hoya broke away from Top Rank?s Bob Arum to form his own promotional outfit, HBO moved heaven and earth to have him under its wings.
At the time of the Arum-de la Hoya split, Oscar was boxing?s biggest cash cow.
In 2007, he and Floyd Mayweather Jr topbilled the biggest grossing fight ever and established a record of 2.15 million PPV buys for a total revenue of US$120 million.
Oscar himself sold more than 12.6 million PPVs during the course of his incredible reign as boxing?s biggest attraction.
Of course, he has since retired after a humiliating loss to Pacquiao in a fight that also drew 1.25 million PPVs.
With de la Hoya now concentrating on promoting fights, Pacquiao now holds title of PPV king sans Mayweather.
Pacquiao?s last five fights were certified box office hits generating more than five million PPV buys. His biggest announced PPV sales outside the de la Hoya fight was against Miguel Angel Cotto, which also generated 1.25 million PPVs.
Pacquiao?s ability to pull American viewers by the million should also be weighed over his being non-American and at the time when the American economy is still in the doldrums.
As far as the PPV numbers, however, Pacquiao is the only non-American who was able to generate more than one million buys while fighting another non-American before an American audience ? against Cotto and Margarito, recently.
So when Golden Boy Promotion stepped aside from its May 7 HBO date which would have attracted the Mexican market, the day falling in the week of Mexico?s Independence Day, there can only be two reasons behind it.
Either HBO thumped its foot or de la Hoya is eyeing a future fight between his ageing ward Juan Manuel Marquez after Pacquiao is done with Shane Mosley.
Pacquiao was originally slated to fight on April 16 but moved it to May 7. He will also bring back his fight to Las Vegas after a year of absence. He both fought Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in Arlington, Texas for the two fights he had this year.
It will certainly bring back fight fans to the Sin City after a very luck luster year in live gate attendance without Manny Pacquiao.
Signs of the time, indeed.
