Pacquiao, in his first bout since being beaten by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May, has chosen to face Timothy Bradley for a third time. The bout will be on April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden. Pacquiao chose Bradley, whom he lost to via a highly controversial decision in 2012 and then defeated in a 2014 rematch, over 2014 Fighter of the Year Terence Crawford, Amir Khan and dark-horse candidate Adrien Broner.
Promoter Bob Arum understands the choice isn’t going to be met with widespread acclaim and said it is his job as the fight’s promoter to build an audience for it. The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, which had been six years in the making, drew record numbers across the board, though it was terribly disappointing as a sporting event.
But it was a massive success from a business standpoint. It sold a record 4.6 million on pay-per-view, nearly doubling the previous record of 2.48 million set by Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. It generated over $400 million in revenue, squashing the prior mark of $150 million set by Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez in 2013.
The public wasn't happy with the fight in the ring, though, and it clearly impacted Mayweather's bout with Andre Berto in September. That bout sold around 400,000, Mayweather's lowest total since 2006. It was clear the public was unhappy with the May bout between Mayweather and Pacquiao and took its wrath out on Mayweather in his follow-up bout.
Arum is girding for a similar reaction to Pacquiao's bout with Bradley.
"Let's be honest when we talk about Mayweather and Berto," Arum said. "What the [expletive] business did Berto have in there in the ring against Mayweather? None. It's the same as if we had put Pacquiao in the ring with Broner. What the [expletive]? We'd never do that. It makes no sense.
"Of course, I understand the reaction to the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is going to impact us. Clearly, yes. There is no question about that. Will we do the same numbers for the first two Bradley fights? Probably not. We're going to try to come as close as we can, and hopefully exceed it, but I understand what we're up against. I've run my numbers and I have done my math. I'm not out here with my head up my [expletive]."
Neither Pacquiao nor Bradley could be reached for immediate comment Wednesday. The big selling point in the fight, according to Arum, will be the change of bringing Teddy Atlas in as Bradley's trainer.
Bradley parted ways with longtime trainer Joel Diaz after his narrow victory in June over Jesse Vargas, and hired Atlas to train him for his fight with Brandon Rios in November. Bradley dominated Rios and stopped him in the ninth round of an exceptionally one-sided fight.
Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach took shots at Atlas after that bout, and it's to be expected that Roach and Atlas will go at it again.
Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz did not return calls seeking comment. Arum said that Top Rank president Todd duBoef spoke to cable and satellite providers as well as MGM Grand officials about Pacquiao's potential opponents. Arum said all entities were unanimous that Pacquiao-Bradley would sell the best.
Arum said he passed that information on to Koncz. Koncz had initiated talks with Broner, but Arum said after hearing the input from the associated entities, Koncz gave the information to Pacquiao and he settled on Bradley.
But whether that will be enough to attract the interest of the casual fan is highly questionable. Arum doesn't even have the luxury of selling the bout as Pacquiao's farewell to boxing, even though Pacquiao has said he expects this to be his final bout.
Boxers, though, frequently change their minds, and Arum knows it's likely that Pacquiao could change his.
"I ain't going to sell it as his last fight because six months later, if he decides to fight again, I'm going to look like a [expletive] huckster," Arum said. "It could be his last fight, but I've been in this business for 50 years, and I've learned not to believe any of these guys when they say it's their last fight.
"So we're going to promote this as the fight with a different Timothy Bradley. Bradley was a different fighter in the fight with Rios. He had a different style, a different game plan and he performed differently. If he'd have stayed with Joel Diaz and we'd put him in with Pacquiao a third time, the criticism of this fight would no doubt be justified. But he's a different guy under Atlas. Does being with Atlas change him enough to make him more competitive with Pacqiuao? I think yes, but we'll have to see."yahoo
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