MANILA, Philippines – Can Manny Pacquiao vs Brandon Rios outsell Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Canelo Alvarez?
The answer will be known today at the start of the ticket sales for the awaited return of the fallen Filipino superstar on Nov. 24 at The Venetian in
Macau.
Tickets, according to Top Rank chief Bob Arum, are priced from $115 (roughly P5,000) to as high as $1,275 (close to P55,000). They will be available online and at Sands in Macau.
Mayweather stakes his perfect record against Alvarez on Sept. 14 at the MGM in Las Vegas, and ticket sales have guaranteed another blockbuster outing for the American.
Tickets to the next Mayweather fight were sold out in 24 hours, and Golden Boy Promotions are already looking at sales of as high as $19 million. Sportshub ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
The MGM seats close to 17,000, just a couple of thousands more than what the Cotai Arena of The Venetian could offer.
Bob Arum of Top Rank said it?s easy to sell Pacquiao vs Rios.
?We?re going to sell out the arena,? the ageless boxing promoter told the crowd that attended the press conference for Pacquiao vs Rios the other day at The Venetian.
Pacquiao is hoping that there will be ?more Filipinos than Mexicans? in the crowd because Macau is just a couple of hours away from Manila.
To accommodate the pay-per-view and primetime crowd in the United States and elsewhere around the globe, Pacquiao and Rios will climb the ring before noon.
Arum said there will be closed-circuit viewing all over Macau, a gambling haven that has already overtaken Las Vegas when it comes to casino revenues.
?We will give you a ride you?ve never seen before,? said Arum who called the 147 lb showdown between Pacquiao and Rios as a ?very, very intriguing and exciting fight.?
Pacquiao, the former pound-for-pound champion and still the only boxer in history to win world titles in eight different weight classes, is going all out for a victory.
He came from two successive defeats, a highly-debatable decision against Tim Bradley in June last year and a shocking knockout against Juan Manuel Marquez last December.
But Pacquiao remains as the favorite against Rios with the early odds pegged at -400 for the Filipino and +300 for the American with Mexican roots.
Rios is no pushover. He?s younger, taller and hungrier, and said he will come out in November to try to end Pacquiao?s career.
?It?s going to be something special, I guarantee you,? said Arum.
?We expect this event will reach more people than any event held in China, other than the (2008) Olympics,? he added.
Today?s ticket sales will provide some answer to that.
