Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao: Staredown before showdown
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao weighed in below the welterweight limit Friday before a packed arena of screaming fans anticipating the landmark bout. One day before they finally meet in the richest event in boxing history, they took the stage in an MGM Grand arena filled with fans enjoying the public’s best chance to see the fighters in person.
A beaming Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) stepped on the scales first and weighed in at 145 pounds, two below the welterweight limit. Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) followed and weighed in at 146 pounds. The fighters betrayed few emotions in their staredown, keeping with the impersonal nature of the promotion. But Pacquiao also said, “Thank you” to Mayweather, who said he didn’t hear it. “(I was) thanking him for the fans that the fight will happen,” Pacquiao said.
“I think, I believe that the fight must happen because the fans deserve it.”
Sections of the crowd roared and booed for both fighters, although the majority appeared to support Pacquiao, who raised both arms to the crowd with V’s for victory. Mayweather acknowledged his healthy cheering section with waves. “I’ve dedicated myself to the sport of boxing for over 20 years, and I’m ready,” Mayweather said. 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.
Colours tell their own story.
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 on StubHub earlier this week.
The fans began arriving on the Strip on Friday morning, packing the MGM Grand’s parking garage and streaming into the casino from the street.
A line to get into the arena formed several hours early, and the first fans got into the building four hours before any fighters took the stage. Many Filipino fans dressed in bright colors waved their nation’s flag, including one with a “Manny for President!” slogan superimposed on it.
The 36-year-old Pacquiao is a congressman, but has patiently pointed out that he couldn’t be the Philippines’ president until he turns 40. While the fans bought food and merchandise during their wait, hip-hop pioneer Doug E.
Fresh rapped and beatboxed. Two groups of fans on the concourse exchanged loud dueling chants of “Man-ny! Man-ny!” and “Floyd! Floyd!” before grinning security guards told them to cool it.
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