HIS BIGGEST FAN WILL BE IN PRAYER

As Manny Pacquiao addressed the media Wednesday at the final news conference for Saturday's junior welterweight showdown with Ricky Hatton, one spectator in the general audience paid especially close attention.

Dionisia Pacquiao, 59, is always interested in what her son has to say. That he usually doesn't say much is fine by her. It means she raised Manny properly.

"I told him to always be humble and to pray," she said. "He is a good son."

This is Dionisia Pacquiao's first trip to the United States, and it has mesmerized her.

"I love it," she said. "I've wanted to come here many times. It's wonderful. It's everything I thought it would be."

And Las Vegas?

"I'm speechless," she said. "So many bright lights. I'm going to try to see everything while I'm here."

One thing she won't see, however, is her son at work. When Pacquiao fights, his mother can be found praying, not watching. She has never attended one of his fights during his illustrious 14-year professional career with 48 wins, three losses and two draws. And even though she has traveled thousands of miles from the Philippines to be with her son, come Saturday night, Dionisia will not be ringside at the MGM Grand Garden. However, she will present him with a bouquet of red roses for good luck before he leaves his hotel suite at Mandalay Bay.

"I will just pray," she said, intending to use her Mandalay Bay suite as a chapel. Dionisia brought along her own statue of the Virgin Mary.

But if she had no intention of attending her son's fight, why did Dionisia come all this way?

"I wanted to give him a mother's support," she said. "I would have been here before, but I wasn't feeling well so I waited."

Dionisia Pacquiao is a petite, yet elegant, woman. On Wednesday, she was sharply dressed in a tourquoise-and-black dress with a black shawl, her makeup minimal, her jewelry modest. Like her son, she is soft-spoken and, like most mothers, she is proud of her child's successes.

"I'm very proud to be the mother of Manny Pacquiao," she said.

Pacquiao said having his mother with him for the first time gives him added incentive.

"It is great to have her here," he said. "It's important to have her with me. Her first time. It gives me more inspiration to do my best and try my best to win.

"The fight is still the same. Hatton is a warrior, a good fighter, a strong fighter. She is scared to watch, but she is also confident for this fight."

Dionisia Pacquiao admits some fear grips her each time her son climbs in the ring. But she believes in him and his abilities and she is confident he will prevail in Saturday's 140-pound bout.

"I am scared a little, but I'm confident he will succeed," she said.

• NOTES -- Pacquiao is a minus-270 betting favorite at the MGM Mirage sports books, up from minus-250. The take-back on Hatton is plus-230. ... Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer said Pacquiao's purse will be $12 million, with Hatton receiving $8 million.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.