Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao SS6 (3am) Floyd Mayweather says he can’t promise his fight against Manny Pacquiao will live up to all the hype. The American and the Filipino, who clash in Las Vegas on Saturday night, stood nose to nose on Wednesday and were asked whether the richest fight in boxing history would live up to its blockbuster billing. “Even if we fought at an extremely high pace, it is not for me to judge. My job is to go out and do my best; just be Floyd Mayweather,” the favourite said. Mayweather spoke to a small group of reporters after a conference that finished with the two future Hall of Famers getting up close and personal for the cameras in a stare-down at the front of the brightly-lit stage. Mayweather said weeks of working out, sparring hundreds of rounds and watching film at his Las Vegas gym had prepared him to fight Pacquiao. But he plans to spend the next few days taking his mind off the fight. “I am going to be watching movies and watching playoff basketball,” Mayweather said. “The only thing I can do now is take it one day at a time. “I am going to go home and rest. The next time I hear anything about boxing will be at the weigh-in.” Mayweather, the WBC and WBA welterweight champion, has been unusually quiet in the build-up to the fight. He says he doesn’t need to resort to trash talk to sell this one against the IBO champion. “From the beginning of my career I have always had a game plan. I make calculated moves inside the ring and outside the ring. “Me speaking out loud and having personality … I did that in the past. I am a lot older and wiser and this fight sells itself. I don’t have to do it. Before I would come out and speak in a flamboyant ‘Money’ persona. It was all about entertainment.” He does not want to be portrayed as the bad guy for this fight. “This fight is not good versus evil. It is one fighter who is at the top and another. I believe in my skills and believe I will be victorious. “When I went into training camp I worked hard to win this fight and I am sure he did the same. I don’t take anything away from Pacquiao. He is going to be an intriguing matchup on Saturday. He didn’t get to where he got by not beating tough competition.” Mayweather says the money isn’t important because he has everything he wants. “When you get to this point, once you make so much money, there is nothing you can buy anymore.” He dismissed suggestions that he would come into the ring on Saturday weighing 72.57 kg, even after the expected weight gain that will follow the weigh-in for the welterweight limit of 67 kg. “I have never seen 155 pounds (70.31 kg),” he said. “I just look big because I am working hard. I am the bigger, stronger guy.” FOCUSED ON CONSERVING ENERGY REUTERS reports that the two boxers appeared more focused on conserving energy and downplaying animosity than stirring the pot for the fight as they eased their way through the low-key media conference. They traded compliments rather than jabs and even shared a laugh during the traditional stare-down for photographers. “This fight sells itself, I don’t have to do that,” Mayweather said. A dozen other people involved in the promotion took turns at the microphone before Mayweather and Pacquiao had a chance to speak at the glitzy MGM Grand Ka theatre. Even Pacquiao’s manager, Freddie Roach, who can normally be counted on for a provocative comment, offered up a bland cliché. “Floyd, I wish you the best of luck. Manny I wish you the best of luck. May the best man win,” Roach said in front of a wall of over 100 television cameras and hundreds of reporters. The boxers’ fashion sense was as contrasting as their styles in the ring. Pacquiao arrived dressed sharply in a blazer and trousers. Mayweather chose his ‘Money Team’ track suit. But their messages were uniform, with both men thanking God and everyone involved in the fight. “It’s nothing personal ... just doing our jobs trying to put our names in boxing history,” said Pacquiao. “It’s about the two fighters,” Mayweather said. “I believe in my skills, I believe I am going to be victorious. I went to training camp expecting I was going to win this fight and I’m pretty sure he did the same. It is an intriguing matchup.”
