Chances are most seats will be filled with warm bodies once Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley start their 12-round brawl next month at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
Top Rank, Inc. big boss Bob Arum revealed around 80% of the venue’s tickets have been bought since they started selling last January 20.
In recent weeks, fears were raised regarding tickets and pay-per-view sales of the bout after Pacquiao got embroiled in a controversy regarding same-sex marriage.
“We still don’t know but if it’s an indication, 12,000 tickets have been sold and the seating capacity is 15,000.
So that itself may be a good sign,” said Arum in a telephone interview.
Arum said it would be best for Pacquiao to keep his focus solely on his training and his next opponent.
“He should focus on boxing and leave all other things to his people,” added Arum.
Last month, Pacquiao made international headlines when he voiced out his divergence regarding same-sex marriage and their sexual acts.
But the chances of Pacquiao winning a senate seat in the upcoming polls have apparently picked up despite the supposed backlash he got from the lesbian and gay community.
In the latest pre-election survey done by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), Pacquiao is ranked seventh when he gained 38% of the 1,800 respondents nationwide.
SWS had Pacquiao ranked eight last January.
Pacquiao is set to face Bradley in a 12-round welterweight non-title battle on April 9, their third after splitting their first two meetings in 2012 and 2014. (DENNIS PRINCIPE)