by John Dennen

IN a significant move away from pay-per-view the next Manny Pacquiao fight will be broadcast on ESPN in America.

Pacquiao has been a staple on pay-per-view in recent years, over the course of fights with rivals like Floyd Mayweather, Tim Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez and more.

On July 2 Pacquiao boxes little known Jeff Horn in Brisbane, Australia. While Pacquiao is a heavy favourite, he is expected to draw a substantial audience on ESPN. It’s great news too for Irish amateur World gold medallist Michael Conlan who has his third professional bout on the bill.

“Manny Pacquiao has been one of the biggest global sports stars of his era, setting attendance and pay-per-view records for over the past decade,” Todd duBoef, the vice president of Top Rank which promotes Pacquiao, told ESPN.

“Now, as he defends his world title in front of yet another anticipated record crowd, he will be doing it to his biggest U.S. television audience on the world’s biggest and most prestigious sports network, ESPN. To have ESPN, which has treated its viewers to NFL, [the] College Football Playoff and NBA playoff games, add Manny’s title fight to its roster is the biggest compliment one can give to Manny’s star power and a great gift to sports fans.”