Pacquiao takes road to greatness
Church blessing
Pacquiao has not shifted his narrative for the fight, saying he will be going after Mayweather’s head with his countryman and God in mind.
On Sunday, Pacquiao’s rest day, the Filipino received a blessing during church services, which he attended with his family. The presiding pastor declared that Pacquiao had already claimed a “spiritual victory” going into the fight.
Before the week is through, though, he will have to achieve a more official win to ice his claim to the pound-for-pound throne and take away from Mayweather the one thing that has made the American relevant in the boxing scene: his undefeated record.
The fight is expected to gross close to $400 million. Mayweather is guaranteed $120 million while Pacquiao will earn $80 million. Both fighters can boost their earnings depending on pay-per-view sales, which are expected to hit the roof.
Piercing eyes
Before it moved out to Las Vegas, the official Manny Pacquiao bus was parked by a roadside between Park Plaza Lodge and Fiddler’s Bistro.
It was painted primarily in black and gray with highlights of white and yellow of the sun on the Philippine flag. There was a dark image of Pacquiao’s piercing eyes on all sides of the bus.
Up close, his image is hardly recognizable because of its size.
The Volvo, 54-seater luxury bus is the biggest of the vehicles in the convoy. A sport utility vehicle will carry Pacquiao and his wife, Jinkee.
Soaring hotel room rates
After his early morning run on Monday, Pacquiao sweat it out at Roach’s gym for four rounds of sparring in the early afternoon before breaking training camp.
The convoy was to make a traditional stop at the Barstow outlets before proceeding to the gambling mecca, which is enjoying an unprecedented boom spurred by the showdown between the world’s best pound-for-pound boxers.
Hotel room rates in Las Vegas have soared to $1,600 a night and there’s hardly any left as ordinary fight fans, high-rollers and celebrities have started to arrive for the 12-round bout.
Prime seats fetch over $106,000 in the resale market, while the cheapest general admission tickets, with a floor price of $1,500, fetch $5,245 on StubHub.
$70,000 for 20 tickets
Roach experienced firsthand the exorbitant cost of tickets when he coughed up $70,000 for 20 tickets, which, of course, was a huge bargain.
“My mother asked for four tickets and she gets what she wants,” Roach told the Associated Press. “My brothers and sister all want to go. I’m happy I can afford to buy the tickets.”
Even the $10 tickets for the May 1 weigh-in, which used to be free, were going as high as $700. Closed circuit TV on MGM Grand hotels and establishments, which cost $150, was selling at $620.
Oddsmakers were handling bets in amounts they were not used to, with Mayweather still the favorite at -275 and Pacquiao the underdog at +175, meaning it would take a $275 wager on Mayweather to earn $100. A $100 bet on Pacquiao, on the other hand, would net $175.
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