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Weigh-in of the Century: Pacquiao thanks Mayweather at sold-out event

The Manny Team’ outnumbers ‘The Money Team’ at final fight week event

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Weigh In and Protest

L.E. Baskow

Floyd Mayweather looks to Manny Pacquiao as he salutes the crowd following their fight weigh in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday, May 1, 2015.

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Weigh-In and Protest

Floyd Mayweather looks to Manny Pacquiao as he salutes the crowd following their fight weigh in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday, May 1, 2015. Launch slideshow »

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

Who wins the fight?
Manny Pacquiao — 65.7%
Floyd Mayweather — 34.3%

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Note: This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.

Ticket prices for the fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao dipped on the secondary market Friday afternoon.

No one who attended the weigh-in would have imagined. A capacity crowd of 11,500 people, which caused the $10 weigh-in tickets to sell out less than an hour after they were released last week, filled the MGM Grand Garden Arena to watch the Fight of the Century become official.

Mayweather weighed 146 pounds to Pacquiao’s 145, both coming in below the 147-pound welterweight limit.

Hundreds were left outside the arena as scalpers sought as much as $200 for a ticket.

“It’s an unbelievable turnout,” Mayweather said onstage in his final public comments before the fight. “It’s unbelievable that all the fans came here to support myself and to support Manny. Now it’s time for us to go out there and do what we do best.”

If the fighters wanted to hide the energy affecting their emotions, they failed — especially Pacquiao. The Filipino eight-division sported a wide grin on his face all the way from his entry on the north side of the venue to the stage on the south.

He snapped a picture with his phone once he got onto the stage, and kept his smile even when posing for a face-off with Mayweather. Pacquiao also caught Mayweather off-guard by telling him, “thank you.”

“I thanked him that the fight’s going to happen,” Pacquiao said. “The fans deserve to see this fight.”

Mayweather didn’t acknowledge the gratitude. He scowled for more than 30 seconds during the staredown, not breaking his expression even when Pacquiao turned to face the audience.

“I don’t know exactly what he said but my thing is to focus on what we have to do tomorrow,” Mayweather said.

Mayweather was cheerier when he first arrived with his Money Team posse in tow. He smiled and motioned to fans after entering to the right side of the stage to the introduction of Showtime announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr.

HBO’s Michael Buffer did the honors for Pacquiao, who came in first and walked from the left as the fight contract dictated. Pacquiao’s fans outnumbered Mayweather at the weigh-in as “Manny” chants drowned out their “Money” foils.

“This is a great responsibility for me to fight for the fans,” Pacquiao said. “For me, the fans deserve to have a good time. If you’re a fan of Mayweather or a fan of Manny Pacquiao, you deserve to have a good fight tomorrow.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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