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Op-Ed: Bob Arum likely to grant Pacquiao’s $20 million guaranteed prize

Arum would be in the position to give back to Pacquiao his usual $20 million guaranteed prize but only if his next opponent is Crawford.

There are at least two compelling reasons why Arum would agree to the proposed guaranteed prize: First, Arum won’t have any difficulty promoting the fight because HBO is expected to jump at the opportunity to cover the event knowing that it would be a potential PPV blockbuster.

But even without HBO in the mix, Arum’s Top Rank organization is very much capable of handling the promotions as it did with the last Pacquiao-Vargas fight.

Looking at the best possible matches for the rest of the year, only a return fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao could break the possible PPV numbers of the Pacquiao-Crawford fight. Even the proposed Golovkin-Alvarez fight won’t beat the potential PPV buys that the proposed Pacquiao-Crawford fight would generate. It is the fans’ most sought-after fight because of the competitiveness of the match.

Pacquiao and Crawford are two of the most entertaining fighters to watch in the ring as they both possess skill, speed and power that fans love to watch.

Secondly, Arum badly needs Pacquiao to boost Crawford’s PPV-generating capability. A victory by Crawford over Pacquiao would send his popularity soaring to all-time record which is what Arum needs in preparation for Pacquaio’s eventual exit as his top cash cow.

But even if Crawford loses to Pacquiao, Arum would have succeeded in promoting Crawford as a potential PPV star. No one in Arum’s present stable of fighters has the potential to succeed Pacquiao as Top Rank’s No.1 revenue generator except Crawford.

The U.S. is still the top market for Pacquiao-headed cards and with Crawford, who is a native of Omaha, Nebrasca, as his next opponent, Arum would be assured of no less than a million PPV buys from where he can squeeze off the guaranteed prize that Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz wanted for his boss.

Certainly, Pacquiao would be pleased with Arum’s grant of the guaranteed purse. Koncz knows it is time to replenish Pacquiao’s dwindling funds after making just a little over over $4 million in his last fight against Vargas.

Arum’s plan to put the proposed Pacquiao-Crawford fight in abeyance would be risky for Crawford, who may not have any other opportunity to face Pacquiao in the ring because either he or Pacquiao could lose in the next fight against an opponent that is yet to be named.

Arum has been talking about a relatively unknown challenger from Australia Jeff Horn as Pacquiao’s next possible opponent but his plan isn’t getting any traction because fight fans do now know much about Horn’s ability to put on a good fight against the Filipino star.

Freddie Roach has confirmed that Arum called him lately saying he is working on the proposed Pacquiao-Crawford fight.

“The last time I talked to Arum,” Roach said, “he called me up and he told me that Crawford is the guy we’re trying to make and so forth. And he said, ‘You’re gonna have to fight him sooner or later. You might be better off fighting him now. What weight do you want?,’ and so forth. So I said, ‘If we do fight him, we’ll fight him at 47 [welterweight]. Bring him up in weight, maybe slow him down a little bit.’ I know he does have a little bit of trouble making 40 [super lightweight], but I think he’ll be maybe not as quick and as good a fighter at 47,” Roach said.

Timing is very important in promoting a fight and for Arum, the right time is now to set the stage for a late April Pacquiao-Crawford fight when the fighting senator would be free from his work in the senate.

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