Mayweather v Pacquiao: Ricky Hatton says Floyd will win fight

With a live gate of £48.7m and pay-per-revenue expected to be in the region of £250m, the fighters will walk away with about £200m between them. Not bad for less than an hours’ work.

If you fancy witnessing history at the MGM Grand then tickets for the bout – which is for the WBC, WBA and WBO welterweight titles – are changing hands on the resale market for as much as £100,000.

Even British legend Ricky Hatton struggled to get his hands on one – and he fought both of them.

In 2007 Hatton was followed by 30,000 British fans to Vegas, before Mayweather stopped him in the 10th round. Two years later, Pacquiao knocked Hatton out in two. Both bouts took place at the MGM Grand.

When it comes to Mayweather-Pacquiao, Hatton knows what he’s talking about, which is why BBC Sport caught up with him at his gym in Hyde, Manchester, to ask him to break down the fight.

At one point I thought the fight was never going to happen, which would have been a tragedy for the sport. Boxing has so much competition from other sports now, including mixed martial arts, which is massive. So boxing most definitely needed this fight, it would have been very damaging if it hadn’t happened.

Mayweather has won world titles at five different weights, Pacquiao six, so it’s a fight between two of the greatest boxers in history. Boxing is back in the spotlight, on the biggest stage of all, and even people who aren’t boxing fans are talking about it.

It’s got a clash of styles and a clash of personalities – good guy versus bad guy. You can never comprehend the numbers involved, but if that’s what they’re worth, good luck to them.

We’ll still be talking about this fight in 30 or 40 years’ time, just like we’re still talking about the Ali-Frazier or Hagler-Hearns fights. Just as a boxing fan I’m excited. But the fact I boxed both of them makes me a keener observer than most.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach has been up against Mayweather before and been beaten by him [Roach was in Oscar de la Hoya’s corner when Mayweather outpointed him in 2007] so he will have been eating, drinking and sleeping Floyd for many years.

If anyone has the right tactics, it’s Freddie – and he’ll know that going for the knockout is not the way to beat Mayweather.