Floyd. Manny.
Thank the almighty, we've got a fight at last.
OK, most would concede that the oratory didn't soar to those levels, but Friday evening's weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena was nevertheless a visceral payoff for a five-year superfight wait.
"Looks like we've got the Money Team and we've got the Manny Team," emcee Michael Buffer bellowed, after conducting a sonic poll to determine the fighter preference of a sold-out house whose ticket fees went to the Susan G. Komen nationwide charity and the Cleveland Clinic's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao was a clear winner in the absentee noise-off, then challenged the building's noise-withstanding foundations upon appearing on stage. Floyd Mayweather Jr. came to the stage second amid a tangible din of his own, though it was nearly equal parts cheers and jeers.
Pacquiao was all smiles as he stripped to boxer shorts and tipped the scales at 145 pounds, then gave his signature chest flex move to once again incite what Showtime emcee Jimmy Lennon Jr. labeled "the epicenter of the sports world."
Mayweather peeled down to shorts and socks and weighed in at 146 pounds.
The wait is almost over. (Getty Images)
The wait is almost over. (Getty Images)
The two men briefly went face to face after exiting the scales, and the matchup was memorable less for the intensity of the facial duel and more for the smiling silliness Pacquiao displayed. He spoke directly to Mayweather -- telling HBO's Max Kellerman later that he thanked his foe for agreeing to the fight -- while Mayweather was his typical all-business self and didn't reply or break his stare.
He noticeably glared at Pacquiao, in fact, after the Filipino ended the stare-down, smiled broadly and threw his hands in the air to raucous cheers.
"I don't know exactly what he said, but my job isn't to talk, it's to listen to this man right here," Mayweather said, referring to his father and leader trainer, Floyd Sr. "It's an unbelievable turnout here, and now it's time for us to come out and do what we do best."
Pacquiao dismissed Mayweather's clear size advantage -- he is 5-foot-6 to Mayweather's 5-foot-8 -- by pointing out the fact that he's consistently fought bigger men since turning pro at 106 pounds in 1995.
"I've been fighting bigger guys for a long time. It doesn't matter to me," he told Kellerman. "I feel tomorrow the Lord will deliver him into my hands."
There isn't much else to say. The next time these two stand face to face, it'll be at center ring with the world wacthing. The energy was buzzing at Friday night in Vegas.
Saturday night, it goes without saying, it's going to be completely off the charts.
Topics: Mayweather vs Pacquiao, BOXING
