LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao took a swipe at Floyd Mayweather and his camp when he arrived here Monday night, charging that he and his team are being shabbily treated.
Although he was smiling, Pacquiao felt slighted that he could not even book rooms at the 5,000-plus room MGM Grand for his guests, leaving him with no choice but to keep all his fans and followers under the roof of the pricier Delano (formerly The Hotel) and the Mandalay Bay.
Even the accreditations for his staff and the Philippine media have been turned down at an alarming rate, according to Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum.
Pacquiao faces Mayweather this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the Filipino icon simply can’t wait to lay his hands on the undefeated US fighter.
Even the ticket allocations for Pacquiao have been trimmed, fueling speculations that Mayweather wants to fill the venue with his supporters and limit the number of Pacquiao’s fans to a minimum.
Seething with anger and disappointment, Pacquiao wants to exact some sort of a payback come fight night.
“They can all cheer for him but when the bell rings, it will only be me and Mayweather in the ring,” said Pacquiao.
“They can’t help him fight me,” added Pacquiao, who got here ahead of a convoy of vehicles and the 54-seater custom-made bus that bore the image of his face.
The bus carried a motley crew of characters that included a former basketball, a lawyer, family members of the fighter’s bodyguards, female teenagers from Los Angeles and even members of the media, starring Greg Bishop of SI.com.
The not-so-royal treatment stems from the fact that Mayweather is the lead promoter of the unification welterweight match.
Mayweather had made it known early on that Pacquiao doesn’t have the authority to demand as the May 2 event is clearly his own show.
Even the revenue sharing favors Mayweather, who gets $120 million.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, receives $80 million, an amount three times bigger than his all-time high of $25 million.
But more than the money, Pacquiao wants to silence Mayweather to prove to everyone that he is the better man.
“I can’t wait for the fight to happen. I want to show him I am the better fighter,” added Pacquiao, who at 36 years old is two years younger than his heavily-favored foe.
The Mayweather fight will be Pacquiao’s 25th on US soil, having seen action not only in Sin City but in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Memphis, San Antonio and Dallas, both in Texas, stretching back to his US debut in June 2001.