MANILA -- Three major broadcast companies set aside rivalry for the moment to air for free the much-anticipated fight of Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao against American rival Floyd Mayweather Jr.
In a press conference on Thursday, Solar Entertainment's Wilson Tieng said that ABS-CBN, GMA and TV5 will air the boxing match, dubbed as "Battle for Greatness," on May 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tieng said Pacquiao played a big role in uniting the three stations. The Solar executive added it took them two weeks to iron out details of the deal, which pushed GMA to give up exclusive coverage of the fight.
"I thought it won't happen because of all the friction. Still, it was Manny who made me push the deal," Tieng said.
Pacquiao, for his part, thanked the three networks for making this possible.
"Maraming-maraming salamat sa GMA-7, ABS-CBN, TV5, and Solar Sports dahil sa pagkakaisa nila para maipalabas sa ating mga kababayan ang fight na ito," he said.
Solar Sports will air the show primers (HBO 24/7 and Showtime's All Access) and will broadcast the fight on cable while Cignal and Sky Cable will also have pay-per-view packages available.
SM Cinema also announced during the press conference that they will broadcast the game live on their movie houses with ticket prices ranging from P600 to P1,000. (Sunnex)