Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao’s planned concerr in Honolulu on Sunday has been cancelled, confirming an earlier hint given us by Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz that there were some problems with the promoters of the shindig.
TGIF editor Dave Dondoneau in an article in the Honolulu Advertiser quoted Ryan Chang of Island Fire Productions as claiming poor advance ticket sales forced them to virtually throw in the towel in the concert that was to be staged at the Waikiki Shell which can accommodate an audience of around 8,500.
Chang said just over 600 tickets had been sold for the “Manny Pacquiao Live in Hawaii Concert Celebration” and he couldn’t risk losing much of the investors’ money on late sales and walk-ins and claimed that based on his estimates he stood to lose about $50,000. He said he would have gone ahead with the concert if they had sold 2, 500 tickets which would have enabled the promoters to break even.
Pacquiao was to be paid $100,000 which appears to be a pittance against the guaranteed $12 million for defending his WBO welterweight title against former champion Joshua Clottey and pounding out a masterful twelve round decision before a crowd of almost 51,000.
It simply drove home the reality that while Pacquiao is a boxing superstar he is by no means a singer in the big leagues although his mere presence is a draw.
Plans for the concert included a one hour show with his MP Band with some 20 other musicians, deejays, jugglers, dancers and magicians also expected to be part of the show at which Pacquiao was to give away an autographed replica of the IBO light welterweight championship belt he won with a brutal second round knockout of Ricky Hatton.
Dondoneau quoted Chang as saying he’s hoping to bring Pacquiao back sometime in the future but with the congressional elections in May, chances are it will be a long wait. Chang remarked “I don’t know what to say. We thought Hawaii would appreciate bringing him in and $25 is pretty cheap and reasonable.”
The most expensive tickets were priced at $150 or about P7,500 which is slightly higher than what Filipinos usually pay for top groups and singers who perform at the Araneta Coliseum which holds around 18,000 people. The $150 tickets also entitled holders to a chance to meet and great Pacquiao.
insidesports, Standard Today and Viva Sports also learned that Pacquiao’s post-fight concert at The Diamond Club in Arlington, Texas was attended by around 450 people and although Manny performed seven songs beginning with a rockin version of La Bamba , the event was poorly organized by a contact from Los Angeles.
