REPORTERS covering the Manny Pacquiao-Oscar Larios 12-round slugfest can now put aside their binoculars.
Pacquiao himself assured boxing scribes that he already arranged with fight organizers to have them seated at ringside during Sunday?s non-title tiff with the hard-hitting Larios at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Filipino ring icon made the effort after learning the other day that reporters will have to cover the fight itself straight from the Upper Box section-A of the Big Dome.
“Kinausap ko na sila (organizers). Sabi ko hindi puwedeng wala sa ringside ang mga reporters. Sa tagal ko nang nagbo-boksing, ngayon lang ako naka-encounter na nasa upper level kayo,” Pacquiao told a handful of mediamen who dropped by at the ABAP (Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines) gym yesterday afternoon to watch him train.
Incidentally, Pacquiao?s MP Promotions is spearheading the fight promotion together with giant network ABS-CBN.
Originally, organizers have only allotted 10 ringside seats for photographers from the wire services and leading dailies. The corresponding row of seats behind it have been priced at a staggering P50,000 each.
“In big fights in the US, they usually reserve at least 80-100 ringside seats for reporters covering the fight. Automatic na kaltas na agad `yun ng promoters. Maski naman ?yung mga previous fights dito sa atin, laging may allotted seats for reporters sa ringside,” said one boxing scribe, who?s been a veteran of many world and local title bouts.
