Pacquiao-Marquez III a blockbuster

Saturday's (Sunday in Manila) third meeting between rivals Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez had just made a killing in the live gate attendance. Latest figures provided by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NAC) showed the November 12 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena featuring two of boxing's bitter earned $11,648,300 at the gates. The total gross ranks is the ninth all-time best in Nevada boxing history. In comparison Floyd Mayweather's last bout against Victor Ortiz at the same arena for the World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight crown, raked in $9 million and placed 15th all-time best. The third meeting between Pacquiao and Marquez also sold 15,498 tickets, the most at the MGM since Oscar De La Hoya tangled with Mayweather Jr. in May 2007 for the super-welterweight championship, and the second best after De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins clashed in a middleweight unification bout in September 2004. Pacquiao-Marquez III's runaway success at the gates came a day after Top Rank Promotions chairman Bob Arum expressed with conviction that the fight would surpass the 1.3 million pay-per-view buys produced by the Pacquiao-Sugar Shane Mosley showdown. A sellout crowd of 16,368 was at the MGM Grand to witness Pacquiao beat Marquez via majority decision to retain his welterweight crown. — JVP, GMA News