BAILOUT SUCCESS COULD HELP STABILIZE BUSINESS IN BOXING
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 04 Oct 2008
Now that the US Lower House has okayed in the second round of voting the economic rescue bill it had earlier junked and which was approved by the Senate, fears of decline in lucrative boxing business mostly in Las Vegas, Nevada, will now be smothered.
Business in boxing, which amounts to millions of dollars in prizes, ticket sales and promotional endorsements, had been shaken following the rejection of the same chamber in Congress of the proposed $700-billion financial industry bailout in September.
"When the US economy is sick, the economy of the world is also in sick bed. Sports and entertainment will not be spared," warned former Philippine education undersecretary and trial lawyers association president Salvador Britanico.
Although there is no direct parallelism in the Wall St. crash and the apparent thriving business in the fistic community, observers fear a volatile economy could slow down financial matters in the "red light" of sports.
The US Senate first drew the first blood by a wide margin of 74-25 thus the controversial measure that would save America from economic meltdown was thrown back in the House which concurred with its counterparts in the Upper Chamber.
The Senate and House approval came as the biggest boxing event in the United States this year kicked off its promotional tour in New York City on Oct. 2.
The House voted to concur with the Senate, which loaded the economic rescue bill with tax breaks and sweeteners designed to make the legislation more palatable to voters in the November 4 presidential and congressional elections, several hours after Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao held a press conference on Liberty island in New York City.
Both fighters are expected to break the records in ticket sales when they square off for 12 rounds on December 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Golden Boy Promotion chief executive Richard Schaefer estimated the ticket revenue at nearly $17 million, second only to De La Hoya versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. Some 33,000 tickets will be given to the fans to watch the fight on closed-circuit TV around Las Vegas, the boxing mecca of the world.
Observers had earlier expressed reservations that if the economic situation worsened, it coud derail the plans of US-based promoters to bankroll more mega fights scheduled in 2009.
The rescue package, which was immediately signed by Pres. George Bush, allows the government to spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions. It is expected to allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and prevent a deep recession.
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