By Jim Dower: WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26 KOs) and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) both successfully weighed on Friday at their weigh-in at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mayweather weighed in at 146 pounds, one under the welterweight maximum limit of 147. Pacquiao came in at 145 pounds. According to Al Bernstein of Showtime, Pacquiao had a big punch today so his weight might actually be lower than the 145 by fight time on Saturday night.
Both fighters looked in incredible shape. As soon as Pacquiao finished weighing in, he immediately started guzzling water to rehydrate, even though he really doesn’t have to put any real weight on.
The crowd was heavily pro-Pacquiao, as they constantly cheered him throughout the weigh-in. Mayweather was heavily booed by the fans and he didn’t seem to be too pleased with the boos or the constant applause for Pacquiao.
During the face off, Pacquiao said to Mayweather “Thank you.” Pacquiao later explained why he made the comment, saying that he wanted to thank Mayweather for him agreeing to give the boxing fans the show that they want to see between them. Mayweather was clearly the taller guy during the face off, but Pacquiao wasn’t bothered by Mayweather’s size advantage. The entire time they stood face to face, Pacquiao smiled at Mayweather in a confident manner. Whether the confidence will translate to a victory is the big question. Pacquiao looked confident in his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 and ended up getting knocked out by the Mexican fighter.
When asked by HBO analyst Max Kellerman how he feels about being the smaller guy, Pacquiao said “I’ve been fighting bigger guys like [Antonio] Margarito and [Oscar] De La Hoya. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Mayweather told Kellerman that he gets up for all of his fights, and this one is no different. The message that Mayweather wanted to give to the boxing fans is for them to purchase the fight on pay-per-view on Saturday night. He didn’t give a prediction about the fight and neither did Pacquiao.
HBO ran a poll on their website asking boxing fans who do they think will win the fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. Interestingly enough, Pacquiao was ahead of the poll at 59% to 41% at the time that the weigh-in took place today. That’s obviously not a scientific poll, as it’s something that be gamed by fans of one fighter telling all their friend to make a pick. The odds-makers still have Mayweather as a 2 to 1 favorite.
Here are the official weights:
Floyd Mayweather 146 vs. Manny Pacquiao 145
Leo Santa Cruz 124.5 vs. Jose Cayetano 125
Vasyl Lomachenko 125.5 vs. Gamalier Rodriguez 126
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