On Saturday afternoon, August 26, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum could be found inside of the Wynn Encore Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, as he hosted a joint Top Rank/ESPN press conference to announce plans moving forward.
ESPN Will be hosting several Top Rank cards moving forward. Top Rank’s partnership with ESPN kicked off on July 2 when the network televised the huge upset by Australian Jeff Horn over eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. Inside of the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Horn edged Pacquiao in a bloody brawl to capture the WBO welterweight title over 12 rounds.
The following month, on August 5, WBO Junior lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko defeated Colombian Miguel Marriaga in Los Angeles on ESPN via 7th round TKO. Lomachenko is another star on Top Rank’s roster who will be showcasing his skills on the network, with discussions of a showdown with fellow two-time gold medalist still ongoing for December.
Two weeks later, WBO Junior welterweight Terrence Crawford defeated former champion Julius Indongo via 3rd round TKO in his hometown of Omaha in another ESPN attraction. Crawford is inarguably one of the top three fighters in the sport and will continue to see his name grow with new exposure on ESPN.
Arum spoke to the press about the impact of working with ESPN and began discussing the Pacquiao-Horn match and its aftermath. There are discussions about a possible rematch, but Arum seems more interested in focusing on each man’s individual career.
Arum sees the star potential on the 29-year-old champion Horn.
“We have an obligation to him to make him earn money and keep him active,” said Arum. “We had [Horn] come over for the ESPY’S. He was a big, big hit. The people at ESPN really like him.”
Having Pacquiao-Horn fight overseas seemed to help, as a possible rematch would also likely land in Australia.
“But that fight in Brisbane which was a one off leading in this deal which we are negotiating really helped with a tremendous audience,” said Arum.
Arum is not sure what move is next for Horn, but knows it will be an important fight.
“There are a number of bouts but they are all names,” Arum spoke. “We talk to the manager Glenn we talk to him and I clear up everything and will come up with somebody that’s very very good it won’t be Manny Pacquiao but I’ll be somebody really good.”
As for Pacquiao? Arum insists maybe he needs to go back overseas and meet up with his fighter.
“I don’t know I don’t know. I’ve been busy with this [event] but maybe I can hop over the Philippines and maybe next week I can get on a plane to go to Manila.”
It’s hard to believe that Pacquiao’s pro debut took place in 1995 as it has been several years that the Filipino icon has been boxing professionally.
Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KO’s) is at the end of his illustrious Hall of Fame career it remains to be seen if he will continue fighting after a possible rematch with Horn.
There were discussions of lineal junior welterweight Champion Terence Crawford possibly facing Pacquiao if you were to be Horn, but now that seems much more likely.
