Gulf News Videographer Irish Eden Belleza is stationed in the Pacquiao camp in the build up to 'the fight of the century' against Floyd Mayweather. She will bring you exclusive daily updates, including words, video and pictures, throughout this week ahead of the the biggest boxing match in decades.
Las Vegas, Nevada: In less than 24 hours the historic fight the world has been aching to see will finally unfold.
And as American icon Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao make final preparations for the ‘fight of the century’, the MGM Grand Hotel also becomes busier by the hour.
This Friday afternoon (Friday evening UAE time), we have seen a spike in the number of people from different places and different races converge in Las Vegas – many of them will be watching the fight live, while non-ticket holding fans are here simply to feel to the excitement of the most anticipated boxing event in history.
This is simply the biggest and most electrifying event that I have covered with more than a thousand accredited media from around the world (a regular ‘big’ fight at the MGM would usually attract around 200-300 media outfits), and hundreds more who are not so lucky to get accreditation but are here nonetheless.
All the hotels in Las Vegas are fully booked, especially on fight night, and rates have spiked from $250 (Dh918.29) for an average hotel suite to around $1,000 or more.
Hotels and restaurants that will air the fight live are charging around $150 (Dh550.97) without food and drinks and up to $1,000 (Dh3,673.15) with refreshments.
For other fights, it is usually just $40.
From the fight night tickets to the apparels and memorabilia, everything has become a lot more expensive as Mayweather-Pacquiao draws near.
The fight of the century is also the most expensive boxing event of all time.
