The poor man?s sport of boxing is supposed to be a great equalizer.
It is, with most Filipino pugs carrying the country?s colors coming from the slums from which he intends to escape, no matter the reward (a few hundred dollars promised by a flea-bag promoter) or the consequences (for example, one lethal but accidental blow to the head and the guy who would be next world champion from Dadiangas or Dipolog ends up comatose in a hospital).
Gladiatorial, boxing is not a big leveler of anything if it is the Pacquiao-Mayweather Jr. bout we are talking about.
To be able to watch this combat of the century, as it is being hyped and the bloodier the fight is expected to be the better, the fan of either the Filipino icon and his American counterpart will have to shell out at least $7,000 or, at the current exchange rate, about P350,000.
Even boxers with a little fortune saved somewhere would find it hard to afford that price for an admission ticket.
Whether in pesos or dollars, the price of the admission ticket is criminal, especially in a country like the Philippines where the minimum wage is less than P500 a day.
With P350,000, a farmer in Sarangani can build, maybe, three modest houses with a toilet each to boot.
But who?s counting Uncle Sam?s dimes or Juan dela Cruz?s centavos even among those who had been to PacMan?s previous fights?
Not one among the moneyed, and that would include politicians.
Of course, nobody can stop, should stop, these pols and others similarly financially blessed from going to Nevada on May 2 for the boxing match that most everybody and the world would be waiting for.
?I was there? from their mouth gives them bragging rights to an admittedly a blockbuster of a fight, never mind if Pacquiao wins or loses.
A PacMan victory would send past the stratosphere the price of admission ticket to his next assignment, that is if that boxer turned out to be more colorful and much more skilled than Mayweather Jr.
But a so-so opponent would not cut it for a ticket costing more than the quarter of a million pesos that is the price for next month?s tussle.
The better, for that may stop those with deep pockets from going to where Pacquiao?s next bout is going to be.
For those with little or almost nothing on their wallets, TV would be just fine.
Until the next time that Pacquiao gets up the ring and hopefully knocks the daylight of some hapless foe to the delight of the big spenders in these parts whipped by Yolanda and other calamities, natural and man-made.
