Tickets selling fast for PPV of Pacquiao-Mayweather fight

As expected, pay per view tickets on Saipan for the highly-anticipated bout between Philippine icon Manny Pacquiao and the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. this Sunday are selling like hotcakes.

Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan will be holding a pay per view broadcast of the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout dubbed as “Fight of the Century” this Sunday, starting at 10:30am at the Hibiscus Hall and Chambre Bar.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan general manager Abner Acosta said their $60 VIP tickets are sold out and more are inquiring. They are also selling general admission tickets at $30.

“Tickets sales are doing very well even if we only signed up with Docomo to show the fight last Friday, April 24. We only started to sell tickets last Saturday, April 25. VIP tickets are already sold out and there are still a lot of people wanting to buy them,” Acosta said.

Over at Saipan World Resort, local sales manager and public relations official Mike Babauta said, generally ticket sales are going well with the VIP tickets first to be sold out.

‘Fight of the Century’
Fiesta’s patrons who purchased VIP tickets will watch the duel dubbed as “Fight of the Century” at Chambre Bar in its 52-inch TV screen. Buffet will be also served for VIP ticket holders, beginning at 10:30am.

For the $30 ticket-holders, they will be hosted at the bigger Hibiscus Hall, will use a 7,000 lumens LED projector and five LED TVs (55-inches) to show the Pacquiao-Mayweather superfight, which will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this Saturday at 8pm (Sunday on Saipan).

According to Acosta, they will also sell food and drinks at the general admission section and raffle off some gift certificates from Fiesta during the event.

Acosta added that they hosted other sports events before, but the Pacquiao-Mayweather clash has so far their biggest crowd-drawer. They attracted a lot of customers even though another hotel (World Resort) is also hosting a PPV show.

“We decided to sign up for PPV even if World Resort is already showing it because we feel there will be so much demand and a lot of people will want to watch the fight. People have been waiting for this fight and I am sure people would want to be part of history and watch it live. Tickets sales from this event for sure is the best we have had compared to other events,” Acosta said.

“Again, we are remind the public that general admission tickets are still on sale,” he added.

Ed Arriola is hoping to get some of the remaining general admission tickets at Fiesta and will watch the fight with his friends.

“It will be fun to watch one of the best fights in the history of boxing with friends. My family has roots from the Philippines and I have a lot of friends who are Filipinos, so I am rooting for Pacquiao. I met him before and he is a cool guy,” Arriola said.

VIP tickets gone
Over at World Resort, the Susupe hotel has reserved the Red Box Bar and Lilac Room for VIP ticket holders, while the Royal Taga Hall is for general admission.

“Docomo is the main organizer and they were the ones that are selling the tickets and the VIP tickets were the first ones to go sold out,” Babauta said in a phone interview by the Saipan Tribune.

Babauta added that Marpac-Budweiser, Pacific Trading Co., and Dial Rent-To-Own are the three sponsors that helped Docomo organize the viewing.

Red Box will have one big screen where the fight will be shown, while the Lilac Room will have three large flat screen TV sets.

“And the Royal Taga Hall will have the biggest screen, while four to six flat screen TV sets, provided by Dial Rent-To-Own, will be mounted around the ballroom for people at the back,” said Babauta.

“We’re all set for the fight. It’s going to be an exciting fight and many fans have been anticipating for this to happen.”

Asked who is he rooting for, Babauta quoted Boxing Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya, who said that: “My heart says Pacquiao, but my mind says Mayweather.”