The breaking news on August 5th was that of HBO landing the rights to air the November 12th pay-per-view bout between WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao?s last fight against Shane Mosley was carried by CBS-Showtime after seeing HBO televise nearly all of his previous conquests on American soil, dating back to his breakthrough over then-IBF junior featherweight champion Lehlo Ledwaba in June of 2001.
HBO?s loss in failing to grab the rights to Pacquiao-Mosley was looked at as a huge blow at the time, one in which they were sure to make up for with a huge offer to Top Rank CEO Bob Arum. The recent deal included such perks as seeing HBO?s 24/7 series seeing airtime on CNN, Pacquiao and Arum being interviewed on CNN internationally, as well as the fight being promoted during the Major League Baseball Playoffs, according to RingTV.com?s Lem Satterfield.
