LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao slipped into this glitzy entertainment haven Monday night (Tuesday in Manila) primed up for battle against Ricky Hatton on May 2.
Accompanied by a big entourage, Pacquiao rode in the lead car (a Lincoln Navigator) with wife Jinkee, trainer Buboy Fernandez and his wife Claire, and Atlanta Olympic silver medalist Onyok Velasco.
They were followed by other members of the big entourage ferried from Hollywood by six other vehicles and a 56-seater luxury bus painted with Pacquiao images’ and that of Hatton.
After partaking of dinner consisting of white rice, chicken adobo, beef stew and caldereta, sweet and sour fish and pancit, at Pacquiao’s suite at Mandalay Bay’s hotel, team members fanned away, weary from the 320-kilometer four-hour journey.
Pacquiao, however, was in high spirits, obliging for a quick interview with Manila-based journalists before retiring to bed.
At the hotel lobby, betting odds showed that Pacquiao remains to be favored over Hatton. Pacquiao was listed at -270 while Hatton was at +230 as of 11 p.m. Monday.
It means a $270 bet on Pacquiao will yield only $100, while a $100 bet for the British “Hitman” will net $230.
The odds, however, are expected to change when Hatton’s British fans started arriving to this city of bright lights.
In 2007, an estimated 35,000 Britons flew in from England and supported Hatton in his failed bid to wrest the WBC welterweight crown from Floyd Mayweather.
For the Pacquiao-Hatton bout, which is a guaranteed blockbuster, Britons have reportedly cornered 70 percent of the 16,300 tickets sold.
Due to the perceived toughness of both fighters, majority of fight enthusiasts think the bout set at the MGM Grand will go the full 12 rounds. They outnumbered bettors favoring a quick ending.
Pacquiao, the world’s best pound-for-pound titlist, is favored to win (2-1). A knockout victory by Pacquiao was listed at even while a knockout by Hatton was placed at 16/5.
The fighters’ grand arrivals will be staged Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), with Pacquiao coming in at noon and Hatton at 1:30 p.m.
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