MANNY Pacquiao's first fight out of retirement won't be carried by HBO.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum disclosed HBO passed up on airing Pacquiao’s match against Jessie Vargas set on November 5 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Apparently, the premium cable and satellite television network felt the pay-per-view buys of the Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev light-heavyweight title fight would be greatly affected if it is going to air Pacquiao's bout against reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champ Jessie Vargas.
The Ward-Kovalev bout is set November 19 or two weeks after the Pacquiao-Vargas showdown.
"Definitely it's not going to be HBO," said Arum in an interview with ringtv.com.
Arum added he’ll be looking for other networks, like ESPN, Turner and Showtime, to carry the Pacquiao-Vargas fight once he gets back from his vacation in Aspen, Colorado.
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