MANILA — Manny Pacquiao’s crowd-drawing appeal was again proven yesterday with his third fight against Juan Manuel Marquez enjoying brisk ticket sales right after the online and booth outlets opened shop.
Despite feedbacks that Pacquiao will finally dominate Marquez on Nov. 12, fight fans gobbled up tickets so fast that a sellout at the MGM Grand, reminiscent of the Pacquiao-Shane Mosley showdown last May, is imminent.
According to a tweet by Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, less than 2,000 tickets remain unsold and they are disappearing quickly by the minute.
When Pacquiao-Mosley tickets were released, 16,000 were sold out in just three hours.
Eventually, 16,412 souls managed to squeeze themselves in at the MGM Grand where Pacquiao forced Mosley into retreat mode en route to a lopsided unanimous decision win.
As in their first two showdowns, which ended in a controversial draw and split decision, in 2004 and 2008 respectively, Marquez is expected to engage Pacquiao in another fierce battle.
Pacquiao-Marquez I managed to lure 8,362 paying patrons to Mandalay Bay while the return bout attracted 11,061 at the MGM Grand.
With Pacquiao now the pound-for-pound king and Marquez sure to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Pacquiao-Marquez III is projected to be an even bigger blockbuster.