THE GUARANTEED purse of Manny Pacquiao in his rematch next year with Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico is so astronomical it is even bigger than the annual budget of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), the government agency mandated to regulate boxing and other professional sports.
Pacquiao?s business manager Rod Nazario revealed yesterday that the Ring magazine featherweight champion stands to receive $900,000 (P50,400,000) against Marquez, who stakes his World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation featherweight titles against the heavy-handed Filipino on Feb. 26 in Las Vegas.
The GAB operates on a yearly budget of P45 million to R48 million.
Nazario added that in the event Pacquiao survives Marquez, he will be next in line against the winner of the highly-anticipated Nov. 27 Las Vegas bout between Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera and that he will ask HBO, the major force in staging big bouts in the US and elsewhere, to award Pacquiao a paycheck of $1.75 million (P98 million).
But before Pacquiao begins to ponder how could such an amount of money would fit in his carry-on luggage, he must first deal with Fahsan 3K Battery, the Thai fighter who has been given the unenviable task of trading leather with the 126-lb division?s most feared puncher on Dec. 11 in an open-air arena at The Fort in Taguig.
“I don?t think Manny is taking him (Fahsan) lightly. When he starts training, he is really serious and the arrival of Freddie Roach is definitely a big boost.”
Roach flew in from Los Angeles on Monday morning and immediately went to Davao to supervise Pacquiao?s training at the antiquated but refurbished Almendras Gym.
Pacquiao is coming over to Manila six or seven days before the fight to attend to promotional activities like press preview, news conferences and the official weighin that will be staged at the Pier One Bar and Restaurant inside The Fort on the eve of the scheduled 12-rounder.
Fahsan, his chief handler Jimmy Chaichotchuang and a trainer, are arriving on Dec. 5 from Bangkok.
Tickets for the slambang show are priced at P10,000, P5,000, P1,000 and P100 (no seat).
According to Nazario, demand for the ticket is strong.
“A lot of people are requesting me to reserve tickets priced at P10,000,” Nazario said as he expressed optimism a lot of people will turn out on fight night.
Seeing action in the undercard are Bobby Pacquiao, the younger brother of Manny who puts his Philippine super-featherweight crown on the line against mandatory challenger Dexter “Dinamita” Delada of the Wakee Salud Stable of Cebu.
A special feature is a 10-round super-fly tussle featuring Z Gorres, a protege of Tony Aldeguer and Rudy Salud, who clashes with Chaisong Distar, a knockout arist from Thailand.
