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On the eve of the official weigh-in, Manny Pacquiao was 137 pounds of pure muscle. And Ricky Hatton?

According to intelligence reports gathered by Pacquiao’s conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, the British superstar could be having some problems making the 140-pound limit for Friday’s weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“I saw him yesterday and a source from UNLV, one of the strengthening and conditioning coaches there, saw them running out in the sun,” said Ariza whose main task is to make sure Pacquiao is in tip-top shape for the fight.

“So probably he’s still struggling to make weight. The tale would be after the weigh-in when I hear how much he weighs in. If he’s over 150 pounds (on fight night) his body is gonna be weak and I think Manny will go right after him.”

Ariza knows what his stuff, having been involved with past champions, including Diego Corrales, the former super-featherweight and lightweight champion who died in a motorcycle accident in 2007 here in Las Vegas.

Hatton said many times that he plans to climb the ring at around 154 pounds, and that he’ll be the biggest fighter Pacquiao ever faced. He said Pacquiao “may be smaller and faster” but he’ll be “bigger and stronger.”

Pacquiao plans to climb the ring on Saturday at 148 pounds.

There were also reports of a “personality problem” within the Hatton camp, a fire that was easily extinguished by chief trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr.

He did not reveal the details of the matter that was reported by Jim Slater over the Internet.

“I’m a no-nonsense trainer,” Mayweather was quoted as saying. “I saw a situation and problem I had and I addressed it. We have a very clear understanding. I respect them and I want them to do the same with me.”

He was asked if there was an issue between him and his assistant, Lee Beard.

“It’s not just me and Lee. A lot of people are in there. But you could be on the right trail. It doesn’t mean the camp is not a good one because a person has a problem with another person. It was a problem that could be taken care of without being in the media. It got straightened out.”

Pacquiao did his last workout Thursday afternoon at the IBA Gym, and even when his chief trainer, Freddie Roach, had wanted him to stop, the Filipino boxer with boundless energy kept asking for more.

“Uno mas, uno mas!” said Pacquiao after what was supposed to be the third and last round of mitts.

“No, Manny. I’m tired,” said Roach who had to give in anyway, and allowed Pacquiao another three minutes of non-stop, two-handed pounding of the mitts.

“Dalawang tulog na lang bakbakaan na (Two more night and it’s fight time),” Pacquiao blurted as he did his thing.

Ariza said Pacquiao’s body is too strong right now that if Hatton thinks he could hurt the Filipino with body punches, he’s mistaken.

Terribly mistaken.

“You can hit Manny right now with a sledge hammer and he’s not going down. His sparring partners are much bigger than Hatton. You know what’s funny is that everybody’s saying Manny is the smaller guy. But when everybody takes off their clothes tomorrow and steps on the weighing scale, we’ll see who’s the smaller guy is and that’s gonna be Hatton.”

Boxing’s pound-for-pound champion is ready to rumble, and is in great shape with no problem at all making 140 pounds even when he fought Oscar dela Hoya at 147 pounds only last December.

The weigh-in is scheduled at 2 p.m. All eyes will be on Hatton.

“Everything is right on track. It’s the way we planned it to be. We’re just a couple of pounds away, by the end of the workout, Manny will probably be a couple of pounds under. Freddie’s main concern was to make sure Manny is able to eat at least a couple of times before the weigh-in like before the Dela Hoya fight,” said Ariza.

True enough, Pacquiao left the IBA Gym at 137 pounds. He actually weighed 138 pounds with shoes and trunks on.

“I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going to lose more than 138 before the weigh-in. He should be 140 exactly on the nose. So he should have breakfast tomorrow and a light snack before the weigh-in. You know his body, if you’ve seen it, he’s so muscular now, and his body is like a machine it’s just burning too much calories,” Ariza said. -

from:yahoo.com news