Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming showdown with Mexican Oscar Larios means big money, at least in terms of ticket prices.

The lowest-priced ticket is pegged at Php1,000 and the highest-priced one is $1,000. How about that for someone who sells cigarettes along the highways?

Well, that’s the way it should be. The name is Manny Pacquiao, anyway. While it is true entry tickets to the historic Araneta Coliseum are hardly affordable for the Filipino masses, they don’t actually need to spend that much nor do they have to troop to the fight venue to see what could probably be the most expensive boxing match ever to be staged on Philippine soil.

The idiot box will serve that purpose enough, although viewers will have to contend with numerous commercials. That’s the name of the game whether we like it or not so we just have to content ourselves with what we can afford. Who knows, we might just see a repeat of the ULTRA tragedy if tickets are made affordable to the masa.

I think there are plans to show the fight in cinemas similar to what was done in the Pacquiao-Morales II. If these plans materialize, then it might just be affordable for the many to just troop to the cinemas instead.

The official media entity, ABS-CBN, is also being asked to set up giant screens in select places in the metropolis, again, similar to the one they did with the Pacquiao-Morales II. This is free to the public and I believe the big bosses of ABS-CBN will give their nod to the appeal . . . “in the service of the Filipino.”

All things said, one thing is sure — Manny’s name means money. He’s really gone a long way.