Tuesday Morning Notes: Pacquiao-Cotto Tickets

by Brickhaus on Aug 11, 2009 8:41 AM EDT in News Comment 0 comments

According to Dan Rafael, there will be about 5,000 tickets available for public sale for Pacquiao-Cotto, which will take place at the MGM Grand on November 14. The cheap seats will cost $150 (limit two per buyer), with the pricier seats running up to $1,000. Of course, the floor seats will be kept for the casinos and Bob Arum and all of their buddies and high rollers. Best part though - there will be some early purchasing on the Top Rank website, which will make tickets available by lottery. To enter the lottery, register at http://www.toprank.com/Secure/SignUp/. I don't see the lottery up there yet, but it should be there before tickets go on sale officially.
Speaking of Manny Pacquiao, Rafael says that the WBO title will be on the line, at least for Pacquiao. This is what has made sense all along, and the powers that be at the WBO have been saying this all along as well. An opponent can't withhold a belt unless both fighters agree that it's a nontitle fight. As long as Pacquiao pays his side of the sanctioning fee, he would be able to fight for the title, whether Cotto likes it or not. Remember, all these guys care about is getting the money, and if Pac is willing to page a huge amount of money to fight for another belt, then more power to him.
A Daniel Santos-Yuri Foreman fight will be going to purse bid next Monday. Has anyone's career been as badly mishandled as Santos'? Despite holding a title, and having wins over Antonio Margarito, Jose Antonio Rivera and Joachim Alcine, he's only fought 5 times in the last 5 years, and he's about an anonymous as they come. I realize people get enchanted by the name of Don King, but between the inactivity for his fighters, his inability to turn them into decent names, and long-time allegations of shady dealings, graft and outright theft, I can't imagine why anyone would sign a contract with him at this point.
According to Pravda, Nicolai Valuev might be facing up to five years in prison, due to new developments in a conflict that was thought to be long settled. Back in 2006, an elderly security guard was hitting on Valuev's wife, and Valuev didn't take too kindly to it, pushing the man over. Now, the guard is claiming that the altercation has caused his ribcage to shift, which makes his injuries severe enough to warrant a more severe criminal penalty than the small fine Valuev already paid. This probably won't turn into too much. The guard's story seems to have a tenuous connection to Valuev, at best, and he'd probably drop charges if he gets paid a bit of cash.
Bute-Andrade II, to air on November 28, has been picked up by HBO's Boxing After Dark.