By Norm Frauenheim
LAS VEGAS – It was a carnival and a concert. It was chaotic. Demonstrators protesting domestic violence stood on one street corner. A preacher stood on another. Seek God, he told a passing crowd full of people seeking a ticket that not even God could afford. They spoke Tagalog, English, Spanish, Russian, politics and Hip-Hop. They waved flags of every stripe.
It was a weigh-in. But the scales were incidental.
Crowds, chaos and cops gathered in and around the MGM Grand Arena for an event Friday that was scripted in every way, yet off the scale for the kind of attention it has generated. Ordinary weigh-ins are about as exciting as watching somebody brush their teeth. But nothing about Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been ordinary.
Only extraordinary.
Many among the 11,500 in the Grand Garden Arena for the weigh-in formality paid from $170 to $500 for tickets initially priced at $10 apiece just for the chance to see a couple of welterweights step on and off a digital scale. For the record, Mayweather was 146 pounds; Pacquiao 145.
Most of those same fans and virtually everyone out on those sidewalks won’t be there Saturday night for an opening bell to an exclusive event. Boxing is a sport defined by The People’s Champ. But most of the people can’t get into this one. It’s for the one percent, even at prices that have begun to decline during the last 48 hours. There’s plenty of argument about who wins, Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) or Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs). But there’s no debate about the scalpers. Everybody hopes they take a beating.
Yet even inflated prices have not extinguished the enthusiasm for a bout that has been in the public imagination for at least five years. Mayweather, 38, and Pacquiao, 36, are closer to the end than they are their primes. Even they concede as much. Both talked about retirement throughout the buildup for the bout, a joint pay-per-view telecast by HBO and Showtime (6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST).
A reason, perhaps, rests in the respective personalities. Mayweather is easy to dislike. Pacquiao is thoroughly likable. That difference was evident before and after the weigh-in. On the applause meter, it was no contest. It was unanimous for Pacquiao, the Filipino Congressman who smiled and raised his hands above his head like a triumphant American politician at his party’s national convention.
For Mayweather, there were mostly boos. For the last couple of weeks, national pundits have ripped him. His record of domestic abuse was the target of those protesters Friday. Mike Tyson, who was at the weigh-in, joined the critical chorus, calling him “a scared little man.” Laila Ali said he pitied him, calling him “a little boy.’’
Mayweather, subdued and polite throughout the hypoed-filled build-up, has repeatedly said the bout is not good-versus-evil. But try telling that to the crowd that gathered in and around the weigh-in.
Their roles have been cast.
Go ahead and argue about whether that’s fair. But there’s no debate about whether it’s profitable. Record revenue is expected. According to some projections, Mayweather could earn as much as $180 million. Pacquiao purse could hit the $100 million mark. There’s talk that the pay-per-view numbers will reach 4 million, almost twice the record.
The soaring expectations will be hard to fulfill, if not impossible. Mayweather goes into the bout favored by about 2-to-1 odds. He’s the bigger man and might be much bigger after a couple of meals before Saturday night’s opening bell. He’s also a calculating fighter, who at some point might capitalize on mistake the most expected from the more instinctive Pacquiao.
Yet Pacquiao’s calm and energy have been evident throughout one interview after another during the last couple of weeks. He’s been the happy warrior. To wit: When he stepped off the scale Friday, he ate a cookie. Then, he thanked Mayweather after the, posed for the cameras in the stare-down ritual.
“I said thanks, yes,’’ Pacquiao said. “Thank you for making the fight happen.’’
Mayweather said he never heard him. But he did glance over his shoulder at the Filipino after they broke the pose. There was a foreboding look in his eyes. Maybe there was anger. Maybe, fear. Maybe both. Maybe, he knows something nobody else does.
