by Ronnie Nathanielsz
The moment it was announced that tickets for the July 2 Mano-A-Mano showdown between Filipino ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao and former two-time super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios were on sale, the phones at the Ticket Net offices at the Araneta Coliseum kept ringing.
An officer at Ticket Net told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that the biggest demand so far was for Patron ringside tickets which cost P31, 680. The lady said “there are many reservations but there are still tickets available.”
The demand for the Lower Box A tickets which cost :P 21,120, Upper Box A at P 7.920 and Upper Box B at P2,640 is expected to pick closer to the fight date with Pacquiao’s return from his training stint at the Wild Card Gym next Tuesday certain to give ticket sales a major boost.
Larios who is training hard ion Tokyo and sparring with a roster of talented Japanese southpaws has predicted he would stun the boxing world by beating Pacquiao. His arrival in Manila one week before the fight is also likely to have an impact on ticket sales.
Some five thousand general admission tickets will be not be sold. Instead, they will go to winners of a promo being run by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN which is underwriting the cost of the fight at $4 million. ABS-CBN has exclusive TV coverage rights for the fights and will telecast the Pacquiao-Larios main event as well as the supporting bouts of latest Filipino ring sensation Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista who battles veteran Alejandro Felix Montiel and former world super flyweight champion Gerry Penalosa wgo clashes with Tomas Rojas.
