Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley likely for June 9th

captainanddew wrote:

GrantZilla wrote:PPV rebate for the fight if you get either 12, 18 or 24 pack of horse piss, I mean Tecate beer

I'm streaming this one. If I am going to buy a PPV in May or June, it would be Floyd vs Cotto, most likely.

HBO made it 2-for-2 in securing the rights to the first two major pay-per-view fights of the year on Tuesday, announcing that it had finalized an agreement with Top Rank to produce and distribute welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao's defense against Timothy Bradley Jr. on June 9 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The announcement coincided with the day that Pacquiao and Bradley kicked off a two-city media tour in Los Angeles to promote the fight.

"Manny Pacquiao's fights are always special events and we are very excited that his June 9 fight with Timothy Bradley will be presented by HBO Pay-Per-View," HBO Sports president Ken Hershman said in a statement to ESPN.com. "We look forward to working with Manny, Timothy and Top Rank on this major PPV event."

Last week, HBO PPV secured the rights to the May 5 fight at the MGM Grand between junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather Jr., a welterweight champion who is moving up one weight class to challenge Cotto for his belt.

Showtime was in the running to land Mayweather-Cotto, but it did not come as much of a surprise that Pacquiao-Bradley landed at HBO.

Pacquiao had been a staple on HBO PPV in recent years until Top Rank chairman Bob Arum and president Todd duBoef took him to rival Showtime PPV for his May 2011 fight against Shane Mosley. They were dissatisfied with the way then-HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg was dealing with them.

Pacquiao's defection to Showtime ultimately was a major reason why Greenburg was forced out in July and replaced with Hershman, the former Showtime Sports general manager.

After Greenburg was ousted, Arum brought Pacquiao back to HBO for his November pay-per-view fight against Juan Manuel Marquez and had said all along he felt like he owed it to HBO to remain there for Pacquiao's next fight as long as the deal was similar.

The fight with Bradley will be Pacquiao's 13th as a main event fighter on HBO PPV. Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) will be making his fourth welterweight title defense against Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs), a junior welterweight titleholder who is moving up for the opportunity.

GrantZilla wrote:HBO puts out a better produced product and sells PPVs better. So no shocker.

I just wish they'd come up with something new than 24/7. I have zero interest seeing Mayweather or Pac's 24/7s. And neither do casual fans. The ratings are not even a fraction of what they use to be when it first came out.

They should just do a Countdown and put it on TNT after a big NBA game. In fact on Tue, Apr 17 Boston vs New York will be on TNT. Put Mayweather-Cotto Countdown on right after and catch some of that Linsanity shit. Provided it's still going on by then.

Chisora/Haye brawl has more excitement in 5 blurry, shaky iphone camera minutes than all 2 hours of Pacquiao-Bradley 24/7, despite costing hundreds of thousands.

I feel tired already..

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:Timmy must think a move to Welterweight means extra twinkies and more gallons of Mountain Dew.

Tobe wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:Timmy must think a move to Welterweight means extra twinkies and more gallons of Mountain Dew.

That's what I'm saying - he couldn't have been starving himself THAT badly to make the lower weight. Most guys don't look so obviously fatter when they come in another 10 lbs heavier.