Monday, April 16, 2007 Fight fails to generate Pacmania in Cebu
IT SEEMS the Cebuanos are no longer as enthusiastic in watching Manny Pacquiao fight as in his previous bouts.
Pacquiao’s eighth-round knockout win over the erstwhile undefeated Mexican Jorge Solis at the Alamodome yesterday did not create as much stir, unlike his previous fights.
The drop in interest could be due to two reasons: the quality of his opponent or his joining politics.
“Probably his diminishing appeal to the Cebuanos was because of his entry in politics,” 39-year old medical representative Eric Llamedo told Sun.Star Cebu.
“Before, everywhere you go, almost all establishments offer pay-per-view feeds and time seems to stop because they just want to watch Pacquiao fight. Even when Pacquiao fought Oscar Larios, everybody watched, but this time it’s a different scenario.”
The Cebuanos’ dislike of Pacquiao’s political plans was evident when the Filipino boxing icon was booed during the “Moment of Truth” card at the Cebu City Sports Complex last Feb. 24.
Llamedo was among a handful who watched the live telecast offered by Cebu City Marriott Hotel yesterday, joining some local politicians, businessmen and a few foreigners.
However, for the 35-year old Nolan Ebrado, the choice of opponent must be the reason for the diminishing “gate returns.”
“People pay good money for a fight when they don’t expect what will happen. In this case, we already know that Pacquiao will win, the question is just on when it will come,” Ebrado said.
Even the usually jam-packed Cebu Coliseum was half-filled, while the other venues which offered live feeds didn’t attract as much as the previous Pacquiao fights did. (RCM)
