Blown away: Tickets for P2.5M each

MANILA, Philippines - Bob Arum can’t think of anything that compares to this one.

From the fight purse to ticket prices, the May 2 clash between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather is something the world had never seen before.

“It’s gonna set all records – pay-per-view sales, pay-per-view revenue, tickets, gates revenue, foreign sales,” Arum told The STAR on the phone.

“Everything is gonna get blown away,” said Arum.

Even before the fight was sealed, everybody had an idea of how much Mayweather and Pacquiao would get in guaranteed purse.

For Mayweather it’s $120 million. For Pacquiao it’s $80 million.

It could be even more, much more, because the exact amount will never be disclosed – for IRS reasons.

“There’s a confidentiality agreement in the contract,” said Pacquiao’s chief adviser, Mike Koncz.

“We cannot and should not disclose the terms because stuff like that is contained in the confidentiality clause,” he said.

Anybody can speculate on how much the two fighters are guaranteed.

The fight will surely break the pay-per-view record of 2.5 million households for the 2007 clash between Mayweather and Oscar dela Hoya.

They’re pricing this one higher than before at nearly $100 a pop. If they sell over three million, then that’s another $30 million.

Half of the amount goes to the cable providers (Showtime and HBO) then the boxers get their share from what’s left.

In the end, Mayweather could earn $150 million and Pacquiao $100 million or more.

Tickets to the MGM Grand on the evening of May 2 are priced like gold. They’re not out yet but are already as good as being sold out.

Reports said the MGM Grand, large enough for 16,000 fans, will be scaled down so it could generate as much as $40 million in live gate receipts (another record).

Ringside seats will have a face value of $5,000.

ESPN Radio in Las Vegas said only high-rollers with a credit limit of $250,000 will be offered complimentary tickets.

On eBay, the world’s biggest online marketplace, tickets are being sold even if they’re not yet in the hands of the sellers.

You can’t get anything under $1,000.

A pair of tickets to the Floor A section, where you may find Denzel Washington or Jack Nicholson seated, are being sold for $113,435 or roughly P5 million.

There’s another post for one floor section ticket for $21,854 or nearly P966,000.

It’s like no other.

As Bob Arum said, everything’s going to get “blown away.”