Pacquiao numbers still on hold; Donaire-Darchinyan rematch taking shape
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HBO and Manny Pacquiao’s promoter, Top Rank, are still waiting on cable-company numbers to establish the total number of pay-per-view buys for the Filipino star’s lopsided victory over Joshua Clottey last week in Arlington, Texas.
‘It’s like we’re CNN, we think we can project a good number,’ Arum said. ‘We do have the Puerto Rico numbers, and they’re very good.’
The WBO welterweight title bout drew 50,000-plus to Cowboys Stadium, and Pacquiao outpunched Clottey by more than a 3-to-1 margin to win every round on one judge’s card, and 11 of the 12 on two others’.
With Clottey bringing little name recognition to the bout, HBO didn’t promote it as it will the May 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley fight with a four-part ‘24/7’ series.
Yet, those around the promotion are expecting the number of buys to be in the 700,000 to 750,000 range, perhaps higher, and, worst case, only slightly lower.
The performance shows Pacquiao’s popularity has nearly doubled in two years. In March 2008, Pacquiao’s bout against Juan Manuel Marquez had just over 400,000 buys.
DONAIRE-DARCHINYAN UPDATE: Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum said negotiations are expected to conclude next week to stage a Nonito Donaire-Vic Darchinyan super-flyweight world title fight Aug. 7 at Home Depot Center in Carson.
Donaire (23-1, 15 knockouts) scored a TKO victory over Darchinyan in 2007. Darchinyan (34-2-1, 27 KOs) rallied to capture the super-flyweight world titles in 2008, and earlier this month he defeated Rodrigo Guerrero by unanimous decision in Rancho Mirage.
Arum said Darchinyan’s promoter, Gary Shaw, presented an offer this week for the bout, which would be televised by Showtime.
-- Lance Pugmire
