INQUIRER Sports

LAS VEGAS -- The year’s biggest boxing circus -- complete with custom-painted buses and helicopter rides -- has finally arrived in this neon-bathed desert gambling haven.

Filipino ring sensation Manny Pacquiao and his huge entourage hit town a little past 10 p.m. Monday after a five-hour road trip from Los Angeles, ready for his super showdown vs Oscar De La Hoya on December 6 at the MGM Grand here.

“We’re finally here,” said American trainer Freddie Roach. “[The fight is] a few days away, getting close [and we’re] ready.”

The multi-vehicle convoy included a custom-painted bus delivered by Top Rank, which will promote the “Dream Match,” that Pacquiao rode early on but ditched in favor of his traditional ride roughly ten minutes into the trip.

Although the convoy reached the casino-lined strip a bit later than it usually does when Pacquiao travels here, the pound-for-pound champ was up and about as he hosted a simple dinner for friends at his 61st floor suite at Mandalay Bay’s THE Hotel.

De La Hoya, who has a painted bus of his own, also arrived here Monday evening. Both fighters, though, will be formally unveiled Tuesday at the MGM Grand an hour and a half apart, kicking of a whirlwind of activities leading to fight night -- including, for Pacquiao at least, an aerial tour of Las Vegas.

“There’s going to be a helicopter ride for Manny around Vegas through HBO,” Roach revealed.

The other schedule commitments will be more than just a lesson in geography.

Pacquiao is slated to run on the morning of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, before training at the IBA gym from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. local time.

Roach is debating whether or not to push through with a heavy Thursday workout like past fights in which Pacquiao has needed to lose several pounds to tip the scales within the limit.

But with the battle against De La Hoya, who had a statue of himself unveiled at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, being fought at the welterweight level of 147 lbs, Pacquiao is expected to be given just a light workout Thursday.

“Thursday is usually the day we try to make the weight,” Roach explained. “But since we don’t have to make weight, we might have a light walk or jog in the morning.”

But as strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza had earlier told reporters Friday, keeping Pacquiao out of the gym is quite a chore.

“Knowing Manny, he always wants to do something,” agreed Roach.

Pacquiao will fight not needing to lose too many pounds. He was last weighed at 148 and Roach wants him either at 144 or 145 during the official weigh-in.

“The food intake we have to watch out for is after the weigh-in, to make sure he doesn’t bloat too big,” the two-time trainer of the year. “Ideally I want Manny on the scales at 144-45 then go into the ring 150 max.

Pacquiao sparred his last four rounds in preparation for De La Hoya. The Gen. Santos native has now logged 163 rounds of sparring for the “Dream Match.”

Again, he played with his sparring partner and just went through the motions most of the way before unloading a barrage or two.

“He was just playing around, keeping his eyes sharp,” Roach said.

“We don’t need any worries close to the fight.”

Roach is sticking to his prediction that Pacquiao will knock De la Hoya out in nine rounds. Team De la Hoya said the reigning WBC lightweight champion of the world will go down in five.

“If we fight the way we fight, we will break his body down. I think we can get him; I really do,” Roach said. “Oscar is in great shape, I know it. But he’s weak in the body. That’s where he gets hurt. [Felix] Trinidad hurt him there, [Bernard] Hopkins knocked him out [with a body shot].”

“Oscar fades in slow-paced fights. And Manny Pacquiao is a fast-paced fighter. We have to make [Oscar] work.”

Notes: Manny Pacquiao’s dinner for family and friends consisted of beef nilaga, beef kaldereta, chicken adobo, sweet and sour fish, chop suey and fruits for dessert… The betting trend continues to put Oscar De La Hoyas as a -185 favorite, the same line listed more than a month ago… Pacquiao is a +155 underdog… The most interesting proposition thus far is a wager on a Pacquiao victory by knockout, which has 13-2 odds.