Pavlik/Cotto pay-per-view looks like a go for Feb. 21
Source: El Nuevo Dia via BoxingScene.com
Following their first career losses, middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and welterweight contender Miguel Cotto look as though they'll return to the ring in a co-main evented pay-per-view from Atlantic City (Cotto's fight) and Ohio (Pavlik's fight), if we are to believe the rumors.
Cotto (32-1, 26 KO) will be facing the UK's Michael Jennings (34-1, 16 KO) for the WBO welterweight title that Paul Williams recently vacated. Jennings has been the WBO mandatory for a good while now, and though he's barely a blip on the international radar, he...um...hmm. Nah, I can't really try to hype this up. On paper, Cotto-Jennings is a mismatch.
In the other headliner, Pavlik (34-1, 30 KO) will look to come back from his one-sided loss to Bernard Hopkins when he makes the second defense of his middleweight crown against mandatory challenger Marco Antonio Rubio (43-4-1, 37 KO), who impressed with a rugged win over Enrique Ornelas on the Pavlik-Hopkins undercard.
HBO passed on the doubleheader, which is kind of surprising given the fact that it's a legit world championship fight and then a star feature co-main event, but it probably just didn't fit into the budget. If the El Nuevo Dia report is to be believed, Cotto will make about $3 million to fight Jennings. Given the current economy and the two disappointing pay-per-view buyrates Pavlik has done in 2007, this just might not have made financial sense.
Arum's pretty much doing the only thing he can with the show, which is take it to self-produced PPV. Hopefully, he'll not overshoot and try to charge 50 bucks for this, because if he does, it'll crap out and hard. It's not a bad double-header, but it's also pretty much for diehard fans only.
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Comments
Yeah
I’ve often wondered why they try to get so much $$$ for some of the less hyped PPV fights. If they were more like $20, I can’t imagine that wouldn’t be much more successful.
by Pops Daniels on Dec 1, 2008 4:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
The problem is hardcore fans like myself and most of the readers on here will begrudgingly hand over $50 to watch a very good fight with one of the best fighters in the world on the undercard…… No way they get anywhere over $35 from casual fans but can Arum make enough $$ off the hardcores? I’m sure he will try
Bruce Seldon > Ali
by rjhabeeb on Dec 1, 2008 5:05 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Weird
I would figure HBO would be creaming in their jeans to have this fight
by Option27 on Dec 1, 2008 6:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
also weird
the 2 site thing. i doubt this does good numbers and thats too bad because it would be a great BAD if it was at 1 site.
by thebitb on Dec 1, 2008 8:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Not really that
It will make great regardless of the location just not on PPV. I don’t understand they’ve done this before but on regular HBO. But a PPV with different locations?
But the real question is…
Will the fight be a schedule of two bout or more? What sense is it if it’s just two?
"I beat him so bad, he ended up in the Hospital. And I am still pretty." -Cassius Clay
by CRAZEDANG1280 on Dec 1, 2008 10:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
It is pathetic that HBO is not picking this up. They have wasted money on fights like Wald/Austin overseas but aren’t willing to pay for Cotto/Pavlik showcase fights?
by Zocalo on Dec 2, 2008 2:33 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

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