Actually two towns to be precise. – Bodden Town and George Town.

One of the greatest boxers of all time, the Hon. Manny Pacquiao will be making his first visit here as guest of Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden to be present at the ground breaking ceremony of the new Bodden Town Boxing Gymnasium at the Haig Bodden Playing Field this Saturday (7) at 10am.

The World Welterweight Boxer and Senator in the Philippine House of Representatives will then go to George Town to host the Island Rumble boxing event at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex from 7pm also on Saturday. The next day, Sunday, he will fly to Cayman Brac.

Unfortunately we will not see the boxer perform up close.

The agenda for his visit to the Cayman Islands was organised by events company Cayman Mardi Gras, in partnership with the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Tourism. Other sponsors included global commodities firms SDKA and Cayman-based SDKA Securities.

Full marks to everyone involved.

There could not be better publicity for a minister standing in an election this year.

In a government release re the Bodden Town Gymnasium today it stated “ The event, the first phase of the government’s redevelopment of the entire sports venue, is expected to open in early 2018. The expanded venue will feature a state-of-the-art boxing gym and associated facilities, alongside basketball and netball courts. Officials expect it to attract increased patronage from across the eastern districts, as well as garner international fixtures now only staged in George Town.”

How much Pacquiao is being paid for this visit has not been revealed but because he will hosting the George Town evening boxing event “Island Rumble” it is sure to be a sell out. Event organizer Matthew Leslie of promotions company Cayman Mardi Gras is expecting around 4,00 persons. I don’t believe he will be disappointed.

Featured on the event card is an exhibition from current WBC and IBF Middleweight Champion Luis “Cuba” Arias. The other bouts feature amateur boxers from the Cayman islands, the Bahamas, Jamaica, the U.K. and the U.S.A.

General admission tickets for Island Rumble, priced at $35, are on sale at Foster’s Food Fair stores, Jacques Scott stores, Caybrew (The Brewery), PoPo Jeb’s and from the Boxing Association.

Tickets will also be on sale at the gate for $50, depending on availability.

The ringside VIP seats are we understand sold out.

And on Sunday Pacquiao will also be in Cayman Brac at 9am and leaves the Cayman Islands at 5pm.

And the Great Manny swill be a long lasting memory to be sure.