Las Vegas, May 2 (IANS) Boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao weighed in below the welterweight limit before a packed arena of screaming, singing fans anticipating the landmark bout on Saturday.
A day before Mayweather and Pacquiao finally meet in the richest event in boxing history, they took the stage in an MGM Grand Arena on Friday filled with 11,500 fans enjoying the public’s best chance to see the fighters in person, reports Xinhua.
Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) stepped on the scales first and weighed in at 145 pounds, two below the limit. Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) followed and weighed in at 146 pounds.
Sections of the crowd roared and booed for both fighters, although the majority appeared to support Pacquiao. Mayweather was booed repeatedly when his image appeared on the arena scoreboards but he also acknowledged his cheering section with waves and a raised fist.
Even an ordinary weigh-in turned into a hot ticket in boxing’s capital city because only about 500 tickets for the actual fight were sold to the public.
The promotion took the unprecedented step of selling $10 tickets to the weigh-in and donating the profits to charity, but secondary prices for the weigh-in seats topped $500 earlier this week.
The fans began arriving on Friday morning, packing the MGM Grand’s parking garage and streaming into the casino from the streets. A long line to get into the arena formed several hours early and the first fans got into the building four hours before any fighter took the stage.
Entry to the weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday was $10 dollars (6.60 pounds), although tickets were changing hands on the resale market for $800 dollars (530 pounds).
The fight is set to generate an estimated 400 million dollars (265 million pounds).
The pair will fight for the WBC, WBA and WBO welterweight titles.
“I believe that with my skills, I’m going to be victorious,” the 38-year-old Mayweather, who is unbeaten in 47 professional fights was quoted as saying by bbc.com.
“I don’t take anything away from Manny Pacquiao, he’s a solid fighter and it will be an intriguing match-up. But after Saturday, I’ll still be ‘TBE’ (The Best Ever),” he added.
Pacquiao, who has 57 wins and five defeats from 64 pro fights, said: “It’s a great responsibility for me to give enjoyment to the fans. The fans deserve to have a good fight, whether they are a fan of Mayweather or Pacquiao.”
“The Lord will always be with me and strengthen me and deliver him into my hands.”
Asked about the difference in size with Mayweather being one and a half inches taller than the Filipino, Pacquiao said: “I’ve been fighting bigger guys — Oscar De La Hoya, Antonio Margarito… it doesn’t matter to me.”