Pay-per-view king si Manny

MANILA, Philippines – Matapos angkinin ang rekord bilang kauna-unahang boksingerong humawak sa walong korona sa walong magkakaibang weight divisions, ang marka naman sa pay-per-view ang winasak ni Manny Pacquiao.

Sa kanyang unanimous decision win kay Mexican Antonio Margarito noong Nobyembre 13 sa Cowboys Stadium sa Arlington, Texas, humakot si Pacquiao ng 1.15 million buys at $64 million domestic pay-per-view revenue.

Ang naturang mga pigura, ayon sa HBO, ay tataas pa matapos mabilang ang lahat ng pay-per-view buys.

“We’re thrilled with the PPV performance,” ani HBO senior vice president Mark Taffet, namamahala sa HBO PPV. “With the breadth of interest from sports, entertainment and news media following Manny and the fight, boxing has tremendous momentum as we finish 2010 and head into a very exciting 2011.”

Dinuplika ng Sarangani Congressman ang halos 1 million PPV buys na itinala ni dating heavyweight champion Mike Tyson sa tatlong sunod na taon.

Sa eighth-round destruction ni Pacquiao kay Oscar De La Hoya noong 2008, nag-akyat ito ng 1.25 million buys at sa kanya namang 12th-round knockout kay Miguel Cotto noong 2009 ay 1.2 million units naman ang nailista.

"This is the third consecutive year that a Manny Pacquiao megafight has ex­ceeded 1 million buys and he has generated 5.1 million buys over his last five fights -- true measures of his PPV superstar status," sabi ni Taffet.

Noong Marso ng 2010, 700,000 buys ang nahakot ni Pacquiao sa kanyang unanimous decision victory kay Joshua Clottey ng Ghana sa Cowboys Stadium.

Si Clottey ang naging kapalit ni Floyd Mayweather, Jr. nang umayaw ang six-time world titlists sa kanilang laban ni Pacquiao.

"I think the fight with Margarito did very, very well and we are constantly trying to figure out how to better our performances," sabi ni Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. "Considering where we were when we announced the fight, nobody would have believed we would have done this. They said Margarito was disgraced and people talked about boycotting it."

Napatawan ng one-year suspension ang 5-foot-11 na si Margarito matapos ang illegal handwraps scandal sa kanilang upakan ni Sugar Shane Mosley noong Enero ng 2009.