This content is protected As expected, ringside tickets to Manny Pacquiaos rumble with Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas will be reserved or affordable only to the wealthy. By NICK GIONGCO Top Rank chairman Bob Arum disclosed over the weekend that top ringside seats will be priced at $ 1,500 (about P65,000). Its $ 500 less than the $ 2,000 charged to patrons who got the best seats when De La Hoya fought Floyd Mayweather last year. "I will tell them not to sell it at $ 2,000 because of the (bad US) economy," said Arum. Pacquiaos friend Cris Aquino, said yesterday that the remaining tickets will be priced at $ 1,000, $ 750, $ 400 and $ 250. "The price is high because part of this will be used to pay the cost of staging this mega-fight," said Aquino, who is the official flag-carrier whenever Pacquiao goes to battle. Arum said those who will opt to stay home will have to cough out $ 54.95 for pay-per-view subscription with earnings from it expected to go past the million plateau and even surpass the two million mark. In the De la Hoya-Mayweather bout, PPV revenues amounted to over $ 120 million and a live gate another record-breaker of $ 19.2 million. After all the deductions, De La Hoya took around million, while Mayweather got $ 20 million, inclusive of their purse and percentage in PPV sales. In all of De La Hoyas 18 PPV appearances, the Golden Boy has generated a total of $ 612 million, much better than Mike Tysons $ 545 million and Evander Holyfields $ 543 million. In the past, the most expensive ticket to a Pacquiao fight was P50,000 when he met Oscar Larios at the Araneta Coliseum in July 2006 and $ 600 when he squared off with Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez. However, tickets are expected to be sold out quickly when GBP and Top Rank begin the sale of these tickets and in the likely event of a sellout, the price of the tickets will only double in the black market. The Grand Garden Arena seats over 17,000.
