P400,000 to watch Pacman with the stars

MANILA, Philippines - For an eye-popping $8,330, you can watch the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight seated alongside Hollywood stars like Russel Crowe, Sylvester Stallone, Eva Longoria, Mark Wahlberg or Jennifer Lopez.

Yes, $8,330, or at the current foreign exchange rate, roughly P400,000, amid the financial crisis.

That’s how much the best seat in the house in MGM Grand Arena isbeing offered, peddled and sold over the Internet barely a month before the biggest fight of the year so far takes place in Las Vegas.

At justbuytickets.com, which lists itself as the premier provider of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight tickets worldwide, Floor E, Row A tickets are up on sale for the price that could get you a very nice car.

Upon purchase, through credit card, your golden tickets will be shipped anywhere in the world, right to your doorstep, through FedEx within 24 hours. These tickets are described “guaranteed tickets.”

Based on the MGM floor plan, Floor E is the TV section or the one that faces the camera as the fight goes on. It’s where the stars, the fight promoters, some boxers, their wives and the who’s who are seated.

And Row A? Well, it means you’re in front, just six feet away from the ring.

Off the booths, tickets are pegged at $1,000, $750, $500, $300 and $150 for the nosebleed section. But these tickets, even those at $1,000, do not include the ones being sold for $8,330 on the Internet.

For Pacquiao’s fight with Oscar de la Hoya last December, the most expensive tickets were pegged at $1,500, and went definitely higher in the black market.

Bob Arum of Top Rank, the fight’s co-promoter along with Golden Boy, yesterday told The STAR that of the 16,300 tickets to the fight, only less than 600 remain on sale.

“Ticket sales are tremendous,” said the voice of a very happy man.

“There are less than 600 tickets left and we expect them to be sold out by next week, with still a month left before the fight.”

The master promoter has left no stone unturned ensuring the success of the event, taking Pacquiao to as far as London and Manchester to help drum up the coming fight.

Last week, both fighters were in Hollywood for a red-carpet affair, complete with strobe and dancing lights, to face the press, and welcome movie stars like Wahlberg and Mickey Rourke, an ex-boxer.

Then on April 21, the ageless Top Rank chief will take his ward,Pacquiao, to San Francisco, at the AT&T Park where the Filipino superstar will throw the ceremonial pitch in the Giants’ game against the San Diego Padres.

“We get a lot of publicity doing this. It’s just sensational,” he said.