No weighty issue for Pacquiao

LAS VEGAS — There will be no weighty issue when it comes to Manny Pacquiao’s weight.
Pacquiao will conquer the scales and weigh in at 140 lbs or a little bit less when the official weigh-in is held Friday afternoon (Saturday morning in Manila) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, venue of his much-awaited clash with England’s Ricky Hatton.
“Two more days, two more days,” shouted Pacquiao as he was banging the mitts of head trainer Freddie Roach, looking all pumped up to answer the first round.
After a light workout at the IBA Gym that was made available to the public on Thursday, Pacquiao tipped the scales that was perfectly placed near the foot of the ring and came in at 137 lbs, according to conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
“Manny’s even going to have two meals tomorrow,” said Ariza, who personally went to check on how much exactly Pacquiao weighed barely 24 hours before he strips to his underwear before an expected roaring crowd expected to be made up of Britons and Filipinos.
The weight limit is 140 lbs and Pacquiao is dead-sure of making it especially after his display of jolly mood, something that wasn’t visible in some of his last few fights.
“He’s very loose and I like what I see in him,” said Roach, who left the training facility as Pacquiao was doing his abdominal exercises under the close watch of Ariza and Michael Moorer, the last phase of his training session.
Before heading to the gym, Pacquiao warmly welcomed his former business manager Rod Nazario, who was joined by old pals Lito Mondejar, Moy Lainez and Gerry Garcia.
It was Nazario, who gave Pacquiao his big break in the US in 2001 and it was under him that Pacquiao skyrocketed to fame after a stoppage win over Marco Antonio Barrera in San Antonio, Texas.
Nazario predicts that Pacquiao would get the job done against Hatton “in six to eight rounds.”
Ariza expects Pacquiao to come in at 140 lbs then blow up to 146 to 148 lbs by the time he answers the bell for the first round.
Meanwhile, Top Rank chief Bob Arum, during dinner with top scribes covering the fight, that he “never experienced anything like it (demand for tickets) since Muhammad) Ali and (Joe) Frazier fought in New York in 1971.”
Even Pacquiao has ran out of tickets to give away to his friends and friends of his friends.
“He’s like (Roberto) Duran,” noted Arum, who promoted the Panamanian legend nicknamed “Hands of Stone.”
“Duran was the box-office, people lined up for tickets, and Manny’s just like him.”
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