ABS & Promoting July 2
Bleacher Talk
May 14, 2006
The Philippine boxing scene is on a big high at the moment with the sudden surge of interest for Pinoy boxers to show their stuff in the international big money market in the United States. Manny Pacquiao has been the catalyst for this, and awareness for Philippine boxing is already at its highest level and it's surely a close #2 to basketball in terms of local following.
One of the most important benefits from all this is that local boxers now have the opportunity to earn more than a decent paycheck. After all, boxing to them is a profession. It's a business. And they're not the only ones benefiting from this, from a business viewpoint. A lot of other people are cashing in on the trend and trying to make a quick buck on their own.
The most visible sector of this boxing boom that is riding on this current phenomenon and seeking to also make it big (no, make that "bigger") is TV. The TV boxing business has always been there ever since the 80's but never before has it gotten to its current status today. Since local boxing fights can't generate high ratings to deserve big-time TV commercial placements, boxing producers have always had to deal with the "smaller" TV stations like RPN, IBC and NBN. ABS-CBN and GMA weren't interested in boxing, save for their news desks. If you surf channels on your TV on any Sunday (around noon to mid-afternoon), you'll be bombarded with boxing programs on Solar Sports, RPN, and ABC, but never on the Big 2. There will also be the occasional big international fights shown on a slightly delayed basis from Las Vegasand Japan.
But it now looks like times are a-changing. The TV boxing business has now gotten a second look from no less than ABS-CBN. After bombing out with its TV program "Knock-out" a few years ago, they're back with no less than Manny Pacquiao as their lead star. They came back through the airing of the Pacquiao-Morales rematch, "breaking" their own TV programming practices in the process, something that was never expected. Never before had the network allocate practically a whole Sunday morning (10 am) and afternoon (til 3 or 4pm) for a boxing program. They actually canceled a Sunday episode of ASAP, their Sunday noontime variety program aside from all the regular programs on that Sunday.
In what is turning out to be an interesting case study for followers of the sport and TV trends, ABS-CBN is now mounting what could be its biggest boxing project to-date, Pacquiao's fight against Oscar Larios of Mexicoat the Araneta Coliseum on July 2. It sure looks like the network is bent on creating a big impact with its boxing productions as it sets itself up not only for local viewing, but for the international market which is definitely much, much bigger from a financial perspective.
And I must admit I'm impressed with the way the Pacquio-Larios promoters have done a good job of keeping the event very much in the sports fans' minds even it it's still two months away. It sure looks like a mother script has been prepared for this big event with a director running the show.
The sports pages have been deluged with well-prepared and scheduled stories about the event that included a press conference at ABS-CBN that featured both Pacquio and Larios.
Applying the showbiz intriga strategy has spiced up interest in the match. Stories came out that Pacquiao wanted to stay in the country and didn't want to train in the Wild Card Gym of trainer Freddie Roach. Roach had to come over to personally convince Pacquiao to change his mind (kuno). Drama at its best di ba?
More drama? It has been reported that Larios thinks that Pacquiao is arrogant. Dyan Castillejo even went to Mexicoto interview him. Here we see the PR machinery in developing bad blood between both warriors. Will this work? I don't know, but it doesn't help that Pacquiao and Larios are always smiling for the cameras. Where's the bad blood?
More excitement? The card will now become a Philippinesvs Mexicoslugfest with no less that Randy Suico, Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista, Jimrex Jaca and Gerry Peñalosa seeing action against Mexican foes. This is already a dream line-up for any matchmaker or promoter out there.
More KSP stuff? There was a big issue raised over the "reported" ticket prices to be charged at the Big Dome, with general admission tickets costing P1,000. In a classic case of "abante-atras" or "urong-sulong," ABS-CBN denied that the prices were final and said that they were still looking into the pricing structure, with Pacquiao willing to donate tickets for the bleacher section. Talk about bad news-good news, with a wolrd-class hero to save us!
Other matters? Michael Buffer is being tapped to be the ring announcer for the main event. Now that's being really serious. Martin Nievera was also mentioned somewhere in between stories. But Buffer in the Big Dome would be a classic. And the announcer in this corner? Hmmm. If he's friendly with the boxing gods, maybe, just maybe.
Isn't it exciting that everything that we've heard about the event has been through controversy and intriga? I just hope this isn't true for all the work taking place behind the scenes. Who are ABS-CBN's sponsors? Where will they get all the money needed to stage such a huge event?Abangan.
Everything is surely turning out roses for Pinoy boxing. And the Pacquio-Larios fight is going to be a turning point not only for boxing but more crucially for ABS-CBN and its venture into TV boxing. So far, so good. Let's all pray that the script is followed.
**Time-out: Happy birthday to Myke Francia! >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
May 14, 2006
The Philippine boxing scene is on a big high at the moment with the sudden surge of interest for Pinoy boxers to show their stuff in the international big money market in the United States. Manny Pacquiao has been the catalyst for this, and awareness for Philippine boxing is already at its highest level and it's surely a close #2 to basketball in terms of local following.
One of the most important benefits from all this is that local boxers now have the opportunity to earn more than a decent paycheck. After all, boxing to them is a profession. It's a business. And they're not the only ones benefiting from this, from a business viewpoint. A lot of other people are cashing in on the trend and trying to make a quick buck on their own.
The most visible sector of this boxing boom that is riding on this current phenomenon and seeking to also make it big (no, make that "bigger") is TV. The TV boxing business has always been there ever since the 80's but never before has it gotten to its current status today. Since local boxing fights can't generate high ratings to deserve big-time TV commercial placements, boxing producers have always had to deal with the "smaller" TV stations like RPN, IBC and NBN. ABS-CBN and GMA weren't interested in boxing, save for their news desks. If you surf channels on your TV on any Sunday (around noon to mid-afternoon), you'll be bombarded with boxing programs on Solar Sports, RPN, and ABC, but never on the Big 2. There will also be the occasional big international fights shown on a slightly delayed basis from Las Vegasand Japan.
But it now looks like times are a-changing. The TV boxing business has now gotten a second look from no less than ABS-CBN. After bombing out with its TV program "Knock-out" a few years ago, they're back with no less than Manny Pacquiao as their lead star. They came back through the airing of the Pacquiao-Morales rematch, "breaking" their own TV programming practices in the process, something that was never expected. Never before had the network allocate practically a whole Sunday morning (10 am) and afternoon (til 3 or 4pm) for a boxing program. They actually canceled a Sunday episode of ASAP, their Sunday noontime variety program aside from all the regular programs on that Sunday.
In what is turning out to be an interesting case study for followers of the sport and TV trends, ABS-CBN is now mounting what could be its biggest boxing project to-date, Pacquiao's fight against Oscar Larios of Mexicoat the Araneta Coliseum on July 2. It sure looks like the network is bent on creating a big impact with its boxing productions as it sets itself up not only for local viewing, but for the international market which is definitely much, much bigger from a financial perspective.
And I must admit I'm impressed with the way the Pacquio-Larios promoters have done a good job of keeping the event very much in the sports fans' minds even it it's still two months away. It sure looks like a mother script has been prepared for this big event with a director running the show.
The sports pages have been deluged with well-prepared and scheduled stories about the event that included a press conference at ABS-CBN that featured both Pacquio and Larios.
Applying the showbiz intriga strategy has spiced up interest in the match. Stories came out that Pacquiao wanted to stay in the country and didn't want to train in the Wild Card Gym of trainer Freddie Roach. Roach had to come over to personally convince Pacquiao to change his mind (kuno). Drama at its best di ba?
More drama? It has been reported that Larios thinks that Pacquiao is arrogant. Dyan Castillejo even went to Mexicoto interview him. Here we see the PR machinery in developing bad blood between both warriors. Will this work? I don't know, but it doesn't help that Pacquiao and Larios are always smiling for the cameras. Where's the bad blood?
More excitement? The card will now become a Philippinesvs Mexicoslugfest with no less that Randy Suico, Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista, Jimrex Jaca and Gerry Peñalosa seeing action against Mexican foes. This is already a dream line-up for any matchmaker or promoter out there.
More KSP stuff? There was a big issue raised over the "reported" ticket prices to be charged at the Big Dome, with general admission tickets costing P1,000. In a classic case of "abante-atras" or "urong-sulong," ABS-CBN denied that the prices were final and said that they were still looking into the pricing structure, with Pacquiao willing to donate tickets for the bleacher section. Talk about bad news-good news, with a wolrd-class hero to save us!
Other matters? Michael Buffer is being tapped to be the ring announcer for the main event. Now that's being really serious. Martin Nievera was also mentioned somewhere in between stories. But Buffer in the Big Dome would be a classic. And the announcer in this corner? Hmmm. If he's friendly with the boxing gods, maybe, just maybe.
Isn't it exciting that everything that we've heard about the event has been through controversy and intriga? I just hope this isn't true for all the work taking place behind the scenes. Who are ABS-CBN's sponsors? Where will they get all the money needed to stage such a huge event?Abangan.
Everything is surely turning out roses for Pinoy boxing. And the Pacquio-Larios fight is going to be a turning point not only for boxing but more crucially for ABS-CBN and its venture into TV boxing. So far, so good. Let's all pray that the script is followed.
**Time-out: Happy birthday to Myke Francia! >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
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