NOT this year.
Local fans of Manny Pacquiao will have to be content with watching and reading the ring exploits of the Filipino sports hero from afar?at least in 2004?because of the steep expense of promoting the boxer?s fight in the country, according to business manager Rod Nazario.
?We recently did some canvassing and we estimated it would cost between P95 million to P98 million. At the present time, no local promoter can afford it,? said Nazario, who studied the feasibility of staging the Manila fight with other members of Team Pacquiao?fellow promoter-friends Moy Lainez and Lito Mondejar.
?Definitely not this year. If the economy picks up, perhaps next year,? added Nazario, who is scheduled to leave with Pacquiao on Wednesday for the United States so his ward can begin preparations for his next fight.
Nazario said that no less than Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, whom he met at a function on Saturday, had informed him that local promoters could not expect any government help in the face of the economic crunch.
?Secretary Ermita told me that with the government?s call for austerity, its support of a Pacquiao would hardly be justified. He said there would be a lot of criticism should they lend a hand,? he said.
He also said they had also sounded off other government institutions like the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp., which usually support professional fights, and the reply was the same: ?No way, because of austerity.?
?The Pagcor people even told us that because of the government?s austerity policy, their own trips overseas to promote gaming in the country have been suspended,? Pacquiao?s business promoter said.
Another reason why staging Pacquiao?s next bout in Manila was remote, Nazario said, was the reluctance of executives of the US cable TV giant Home Box Office, which has signed up Pacquiao to a rich contract, of spending additional money for its broadcast team to beam the Filipino pug?s fight from the Philippines.
?HBO informed us it would need to spend $1-million extra to send their people over here. That would be around 40 to 50 people. HBO executives also insist on bringing in their own broadcast equipment,? he said.
Nazario added that HBO also was concerned about the security problems that controlling a big entourage would pose.
?It would be hard to control, track and monitor that huge a number of people. HBO would not like to risk that,? Nazario said. ?And we rely heavily on HBO?s backing.?
Because of the high cost of organizing a Pacquiao card in the Philippines, Nazario said the price of the fight?s tickets may be beyond the reach of the average boxing aficionado.
?Promoters would have to charge around P2,000 for general admission, P5,000 for the box sections and P10,000 for ringside to watch Manny fight,? said Nazario, who had eyed the 17,000-seat-capacity Araneta Coliseum as a possible venue.
?Who could afford to watch the fight at those prices during this present time?? Nazario asked.
And even if the promotion was a sellout, he added, ?we project the gate receipts to total around P42 million. It would be hard to fill the difference. We certainly would not like the promoter to lose his shirt.?
Given those factors, ?we regret that having Manny fighting in front of his countrymen would not be wise at this time,? Nazario said.
