| MANILA — A chance to rub elbows
with Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Bernard Hopkins,
Oscar De La Hoya and, yes, even Joe Frazier.
For fight fans willing to shell out more, this is what’s
in store as organizers plan to bring in all these boxing
superstars for the July 2 encounter between Filipino Manny
Pacquiao and Mexican Oscar Larios.
Ringside tickets for the next Pacquiao fight are
unofficially pegged at P25,000 each or around $500, the
normal selling price of choice seats even in the U.S.
However, there are plans to sell “corporate seats” worth
P50,000 each.
ABS- CBN, the giant television network, which owns the
broadcast rights to the awaited 12-round bout, recently said
it hoped to make the coming fight at the Araneta Coliseum in
Quezon City star-studded and one to remember.
Peter Musngi, ABS-CBN vice-president for the Manila
Radios and Sports, said their wish list is to have a
star-studded cast at ringside led by De La Hoya and Morales.
“De La Hoya may come because Larios is under contract
with Golden Boy Promotions, or if he can’t, Hopkins may
pitch in as part-owner of the outfit. We’ll love to have
Barrera doing the fight broadcast and we’re even thinking of
having Morales, if he’s in town, to do a guest role in one
of our telenovelas,” said Musngi.
Barrera, according to Team Pacquiao insider Erik Pineda,
has volunteered to be one of the commentators for the card,
which will also feature four other Mexicans to be pitted
against Filipino fighters.
“That’s what Barrera wants. That if he wins his May 20
bout with Rocky Juarez at the Staples Center, he’d be coming
over to watch the Pacquiao-Larios bout and act as a
commentator,” Pineda said.
Barrera is the reigning World Boxing Council (WBC)
superfeatherweight champion.
Pacquiao and Morales, who have figured in two classic,
non-title bouts over the last year, are the top contenders.
For Barrera, Morales, Hopkins and De La Hoya, this could
be their first trip to Manila, but not Frazier.
Pineda said ABS-CBN is serious in trying to lure Frazier,
the great heavyweight, to Manila, and relive those classic
moments he spent at the Big Dome where he fought Muhammad
Ali in the “Thrilla in Manila” on Oct. 1, 1975.
“That will truly be something if it happens,” said Pineda
of the possible return trip to Manila by Frazier, the man
they call “Smokin’ Joe.”
With or without Ali, the man they call “The Greatest,”
the coming Pacquiao-Larios fight will be as historic with
Frazier around.
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