MANILA, Philippines ? The moment Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum announced during the four-city press tour last week that the Nov. 12 trilogy between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez is already a sellout, the prices of tickets on-line began to skyrocket to outrageous proportions.
The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas has been reconfigured to accommodate more than 16,000 and Arum said tickets ranging from the high-priced $1,200 down to the cheapest $200 have all been purchased.
Other tickets were priced at $900, $600 and $400 and Arum said they’re all gone and are likely being peddled on-line by brokers.
Top Rank released a percentage of the tickets for public consumption in the third week of July and Arum said the initial response was tremendous.
A check on the Internet revealed that a lower-priced $200 is now being peddled at more than $500, while the premium ringside seat on Section A originally priced at $1,200 retail for as much as $17,000.
Arum said for those who won’t be able to get hold of tickets to the rubber match, they can still go to Sin City and watch the fight on closed circuit as the MGM Properties is opening up viewing in its partner hotels scattered along The Strip.
Part of the public’s reaction to the fight is the controversial ending of Pacquiao and Marquez’s first two fights held in May 2004 and March 2008.
Under the contract signed by the two fighters, Pacquiao will be awarded a fourth fight in the event he loses to the Mexican counter-puncher, while a victory by the Filipino would shut the door on such a possibility.
