LAS VEGAS ? Floyd Mayweather Sr. suspects Manny Pacquiao hasn?t really recovered from his devastating defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez.
The powerful Filipino southpaw took a year off between bouts after Marquez knocked him unconscious with a straight right hand in the sixth round of their November 2012 fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Pacquiao has pretty easily won his three fights since, but Mayweather Sr. doesn?t think those victories over Brandon Rios, Timothy Bradley and Chris Algieri could?ve prepared him for a long-awaited showdown with his son Saturday night at MGM Grand.
“Once you get hit like he did by Marquez and your [butt] goes to sleep, it won?t take too many more punches before it happens again,” Mayweather Sr. said Thursday. “He?s gone. Anyone who has been involved in boxing long enough knows what I?m talking about. I don?t know what round it?ll happen in, but when he gets hit like that again, it will happen again. Simple.”
Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs), who?s trained by his father, has recorded just one knockout in his past eight fights. That knockout came when Victor Ortiz dropped his hands and looked toward referee Joe Cortez during the fourth round of their September 2011 fight at MGM Grand.
Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) has lost three times by knockout during his 20-year pro career, but just once since 1999.
TYSON FURIOUS: Count Mike Tyson among those bothered by Mayweather?s claim that he?s the best boxer ever.
“The guy is going around saying he is better than Ali,” Tyson told USA Today. “I don?t want to hear that [stuff].”
TRACKING TICKETS: As of Thursday night, the most expensive ticket for the sold-out Mayweather-Pacquiao card had gone for a StubHub-record $40,955 on the secondary market website.
The average ticket had sold for $6,200 and the highest-priced ticket available cost $351,005. Face value for tickets is between $10,000 and $1,500.
The live gate is expected to exceed $70 million, which would smash the boxing record of $20 million from the Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez fight at MGM Grand in September 2013.
Even Pacquiao was affected by the incredible demand for tickets. Bob Arum, Pacquiao?s promoter, said Thursday that Pacquiao paid between $3 million and $4 million for more than 900 tickets for his family and friends.
FRIDAY FRENZY: Even the Mayweather-Pacquiao weigh-in scheduled for today is sold out.
Face value for weigh-in tickets was $10, but even some of those were selling for nearly $800 on StubHub on Thursday night. Tickets to weigh-ins usually are free, but organizers decided to charge admission, and say they will donate all proceeds to charity.
“I?ve never seen anything like this before,” Arum said, “and I?ve been in boxing a long, long time. It?s incredible.”
Mayweather will donate his half of the weigh-in proceeds to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Pacquiao will donate his half to the Cleveland Clinic?s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
HBO and Showtime will provide live weigh-in coverage from 6-6:30 p.m. The premium-cable rivals also will stream weigh-in coverage live on hbo.com and sho.com.
