FOR the first time in history, top local television networks will unite to bring to the Filipinos the much-awaited fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr., dubbed ?Battle for Greatness.? In a press conference yesterday at the Solaire Resort & Casino, Solar Entertainment Corp., GMA Network, Inc., ABS-CBN Corp. and TV5 jointly announced that they will be partnering together to bring to the public the epic battle featuring Philippine pride Pacquiao.
Also involved in the landmark tie-up are top telecommunications companies Smart Communications, Inc. and PLDT, cable firms Cignal and SkyCable, retail giant SM and radio channel dzBB.
The groundbreaking deal will bring Pacquiao-Mayweather to as many platforms as possible, including cable, pay-TV, free-to-air TV, radio, mobile and in closed-circuit (cinemas and other public places).
In a live video feed from the United States, Mr. Pacquiao said he is very happy with the unification the local networks have made to document his latest journey.
?I?m happy that the local networks have banded together. I?d like to thank GMA, ABS-CBN, TV5 and Solar Sports for making it possible,? Mr. Pacquiao said.
Wilson Tieng, Solar Entertainment president, said putting the deal together was not easy, saying ?there were sleepless nights.?
But with the encouragement of Mr. Pacquiao himself and the willingness of the parties involved to set aside their ?differences?, Mr. Tieng said, things fell in their proper places.
?The Battle for Greatness: Pacquiao vs Mayweather? is on May 3 (Manila time). It is a welterweight unification title bout. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
