Mayweather, Pacquiao ‘officially’ arrive in Las Vegas for megafight
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. “officially” arrived Tuesday in Las Vegas for their world welterweight unification title showdown Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden. And the superstar boxers’ arrivals were as different as their personalities themselves.
Pacquiao and his entourage actually arrived Monday night from Los Angeles in a special bus. But instead of going to the MGM, Pacquiao disembarked at Mandalay Bay, his preferred home when he fights in Las Vegas. Hundreds of fans had congregated there to get a glimpse of the two-term Filipino congressman who has won world titles in eight weight classes.
On Tuesday, Pacquiao was greeted by about 1,000 fans at Mandalay Bay’s Convention Center, where he promised a victory.
“Are you excited?” Pacquiao said to the crowd. “I know some of you are nervous. But I know I’m going to win the fight on Saturday, so relax.”
Mayweather, who lives in Las Vegas, showed up at the MGM Grand Garden shortly after 3 p.m. in one of his luxury automobiles, made his entrance accompanied by the Southern University marching band and was greeted by about 3,000 fans. He made no predictions, but he is always confident, pointing to his 47-0 record.
“Thank you for coming out and the fans around the world for supporting this event,” Mayweather said to the crowd, keeping his public comments brief.
Mayweather did make one prediction — and a safe one at that — that the fight will do big business.
“When I look at the situation, I’ve broke records before,” Mayweather told reporters after leaving the stage. “Are we going to do record-breaking numbers for this fight? I absolutely believe so.”
The gate will be a record $72 million. The early pay-per-view sales indicate brisk business, and the 2.45 million buys from Mayweather’s 2007 fight with Oscar De La Hoya probably will be broken. Same for the $150 million in gross pay-per-view sales from Mayweather’s 2013 fight with Canelo Alvarez.
Pacquiao said he was fine with not having to share the stage with Mayweather on Tuesday. That will come today when the final news conference for the fight takes place at 1 p.m. at the MGM.
But Pacquiao was confident and said he’s not the least bit nervous.
“I feel excited,” he told reporters after the rally that included Filipino music and dance.
The original plan for Tuesday was for Pacquiao to be the first to arrive at the Grand Garden. But on Thursday, his promoter, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, said that would not be the case and Pacquiao would not attend the “grand arrival” that traditionally kicks off a major fight week in Las Vegas.
Normally, fans congregate in the lobby of the MGM Grand, cellphone cameras at the ready, to take a picture of their favorite fighter. There’s usually accompanying music and, more often than not, an over-the-top emcee barking obnoxiously into a microphone.
The fighters show up, do TV interviews and pose for photographers before being whisked away to meet with print reporters in a VIP area adjacent to the MGM lobby.
But this fight is so big that MGM officials didn’t dare risk disrupting the hotel’s daily operation. So they moved the scene to the Grand Garden. Only this time, Pacquiao, through Arum, opted not to participate.
Instead, each fighter did his own event. Mayweather said he thought it was disrespectful for Pacquiao to not show up at the Grand Garden, but he wasn’t dwelling on it.
“I’ve been focused on what I need to do,” Mayweather said.
Pacquiao appeared to be enjoying himself. He brought a camera to his meeting with print reporters after his rally with the fans and was pointing it at the writers. When asked if he knew what he was doing, Pacquiao laughed and said, “I know how to use a camera.”
Someone mentioned to Pacquiao that T-shirts were on sale at the official store for the fight featuring Mayweather with a Philippines flag in the background. When asked what he thought of that, Pacquiao said: “I’m glad he posed with the Filipino flag. He’s on our team now — TMT — The Manny Team.”
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.
