Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will make their first public appearances of the week on Tuesday as their 330million showdown draws ever closer.
Boxing fans have already begun pouring into Las Vegas to taste the atmosphere building around the richest fight in history, even though only 500 tickets for the clash were made available for general sale.
Pacquiao will launch the day by hosting a fans' rally at the Mandalay Bay casino hotel with trainer Freddie Roach, promoter Bob Arum and his pet Jack Russell 'Pacman' also present.
Attention then turns to the MGM Grand, the venue for the fight which will unfold in the early hours of Sunday morning and where Mayweather will be making his grand arrival.
The welterweight rivals were both due to attend the traditional grand arrival that marks the begins of fight week only for Arum to withdraw Pacquiao, claiming the event is a "waste of time".
Arum also pulled the plug on a media conference call with Pacquiao last week before a question had been asked, while Mayweather spoke for almost half an hour the following night. The one upmanship is sure to continue until fight day.
Mayweather is the clear favourite to win but born again Christian Pacquiao would be a far more popular winner with Roach going as far as to describe the fight as a battle of "good versus evil".
However, long-serving pound-for-pound king Mayweather views the reality that many fans want to see him fail as subordinate to his pursuit of wealth.
"I believe in self-preservation. Me first, then everyone else. But me first. Nobody is going to love Floyd Mayweather like Floyd Mayweather," Mayweather said.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Floyd Mayweather lives for Floyd Mayweather, no matter what anyone says.
"A business mind - whether you pay to see me win or pay to see me lose, you're paying and I'm collecting."
Source: PA
