MANNY Pac- quiao’s promot- er Bob Arum of Top Rank is reportedly interested in having his next fight televised on free televi- sion on April 22 rather than on PPV. It’s unclear if this is Arum’s own idea or if this is something Pacquiao is on board with. The last we heard, Pacquiao wants a $20 million guarantee to fight Arum’s fighter Terence
Crawford.
If Pacquiao wants that kind of money, then it’s hard to understand why Arum is talking about wanting him to fight on free television. It doesn’t make sense.
If Pacquiao is going to fight on free television, the question is how much money will he be receiving? Is something that HE wants or is it something that Arum wants? It would be sad if Pacquiao were being asked to fight for consider- ably less money against someone that the U.S fans have never really heard of before.
Arum is talking about want- ing to possibly match Pacquiao against Australian fighter Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs). So is Arum’s idea of Pacquiao fighting on free television a way of getting publicity for Horn to turn him into a big name in the U.S? I’ve seen Horn fight, and I don’t rate him as being anywhere near the same league as Errol Spence Jr. or Keith Thurman.
I even rate Danny Garcia as a better fighter than Horn, and I don’t rate Garcia very high. Why should Pacquiao fight someone on free television when he can still make good money by fighting on PPV? I don’t understand that. If Pacquiao is on board with this move by Arum, then so be it. As long as Pacquiao wants to fight on free television, then it’s all good.
Arum said this to RingTV.com about Pacquiao fighting on free television rather than on PPV:
“One thing I’m looking forward to the possibility of putting the fight on free television in the United States.,” said Arum about Pacquiao