Bob Arum Says Top Rank's PPV Distribution For Pacquiao-Vargas Fight Was Successful

Top Rank Chair Bob Arum said that his decision to "produce and distribute" the Nov. 5 Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas PPV card on its own "was successful," according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. Arum said the fight sold "around 300,000, probably a little more" PPV buys. He said the fight "did about the same" as Pacquiao's fight against Timothy Bradley in April, which was produced and distributed by HBO. Arum: "If it did about the same as that fight, why do I need HBO to be involved? Why do I have to pay them a percentage when we can do the same thing on our own?" Arum said that he "did not have precise numbers yet" for the Pacquiao-Vargas PPV sales. Arum: "One thing we can't do is get a handle on all the numbers as quickly as HBO can. They have that down pat, but we'll learn. That said, the numbers are still coming in and we're pleased." Arum during the lead-up to the fight said that Top Rank "needed to do about 180,000 pay-per-view buys to break even" (ESPN.com, 11/17).