LOS ANGELES – There are two things that are quite hard to find here these days: tickets to the Manny Pacquiao fight, and a fair bet favoring the Filipino.
Promoters said tickets to the grand rematch between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez are almost sold out, and a lot of fight fans may just end up viewing the fight on pay-per-view or closed-circuit TV.
The most expensive seats, at $600 each, are gone, as well as those at $200 and $100. Only a very limited number of $400 and $300 tickets are in the left, and by fight time should be out in the market, too.
Pacquiao, as usual, has spent millions of pesos on tickets for his family and friends, including big-time politicians, and his fellow celebrities. He said he wished he had more to give, but there’s almost nothing left.
“I wanted to buy some more but they couldn’t give me anything anymore,” he said.
Pacquiao being in superb shape, just a few pounds over the limit of 130 lbs with a week left, has sent the odds soaring in his favor. He’s now at -200 while Marquez was placed Sunday by sportsbook.com at +160.
This means that you’d need $200 to win $100 on Pacquiao, and a wager of $100 wins $160 if you go for Morales.
“Is that so?” Pacquiao asked when told of the latest trend in betting.
“I can’t do anything about that – if people trust me that way. But we cannot be over-confident. I just don’t think about the odds. What’s important is that I win, and I dish out a good performance,” said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao has always been the favorite in his US fights over the last two years. – Abac Cordero