MANNY PACQUIAO and Marco Antonio Barrera are going to see each other in the flesh for the first time in almost four years on July 24 in a press conference in Los Angeles.
Top Rank chief Bob Arum told the Bulletin yesterday that the Beverly Hills Hotel will be the venue of the much-awaited affair that will officially kick off the countdown for the eagerly-anticipated rematch between the pride and joy of the Philippines and the glory of all of Mexico.
Pacquiao and Barrera are going at it on Oct. 6 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas where the 12,000-seat Events Center is located.
Arum also took the opportunity to disclose the ticket prices for the slugfest with choice ringside seats fetching as much as $ 600. Others are pegged at $ 400, $ 300, $ 200 and $ 100.
“We are all rolling our sleeves to maximize (the financial aspect of the promotion),” said Arum, referring to the tieup between the Las Vegas-based Top Rank with Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), which is headquartered in Los Angeles.
There will be four televised fights, including the Pacquiao-Barrera clash, according to Arum.
“One fight will be a Top Rank title fight, while the other will be a Golden Boy title fight and the other will be mixed, meaning a Top Rank fighter will go up against a Golden Boy fighter,” said Arum, adding that four other fights will be added to the four televised fights.
After the Los Angeles gig, Arum revealed that press conferences would also be held in San Francisco and even Mexico City to heighten the interest for the scheduled 12-rounder that will stake Pacquiao’s World Boxing Council International super-featherweight crown.
Pacquiao, then a huge underdog, had beaten Barrera on an 11th round knockout in Nov. 2003 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
As this developed, Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said he is looking forward to seeing the 28-year-old GenSan banger report for training.
“It’s good that the press conferences and other promotional stuff are going to be held early so it won’t get in the way of Manny’s training,” said Roach from the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, is flying to Los Angeles tomorrow night to set the stage for his training camp that begins Aug. 1.
