Mayweather has eyes on target

His welterweight showdown with Manny Pacquiao is 25 days away, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. appears ready to get into the ring right now and fight the Filipino congressman.

But Mayweather will wait for May 2 just the same.

Mayweather (47-0, 26 knockouts) has been training like a maniac for the megafight at the MGM Grand Garden, which is expected to do record numbers at the gate and on pay per view.

There was evidence of his intense training Tuesday at his gym off Spring Mountain Road. Mayweather looked particularly sharp sparring three eight-minute rounds, and his father and head trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., said he couldn’t be more pleased with his son’s preparation for Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs).

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Mayweather Sr. said as his son went right from the gym for a run and was not available for comment. “All of Floyd’s work that he’s already put in, he’s got enough to beat Pacquiao right now. Everything is right where we want it to be. Everything is on target.”

The elder Mayweather credits his son for coming to training camp in great shape and simply fine-tuning what he already had in terms of his strength, conditioning and boxing skill set.

“He’s physically stronger than he’s been,” Mayweather Sr. said. “We trained hard from the start, and he’s got a fast right hand working. It’s so fast, Pacquiao is going to feel like he’s getting jabbed, Floyd’s going to hit him so often with the right.”

Floyd Sr.’s younger brother, Jeff, said he’s never seen his nephew so mentally prepared as he is for May 2.

“It’s like he has tunnel vision,” Jeff Mayweather said. “Nothing distracts him. He goes into the gym, and everything is like he’s on another planet. I’ve never seen him this focused before. The last time I saw him like this was before the Zab Judah fight (in 2006) and the Shamba Mitchell fight (in 2005).

“He knows this is the biggest fight in boxing history. He’s going to make sure he’s ready.”

Mayweather’s camp has been long on preparation and short on rhetoric. Leonard Ellerbe, the chief executive officer of Mayweather Promotions, said Mayweather has set the businesslike tone in his preparation for Pacquiao from the beginning of camp and the entire team has fallen into line.

“Floyd knows the significance of this fight and how this fight transcends boxing,” Ellerbe said. “The world is going to stop what it’s doing to watch this fight.”

There were no smiles or joking around Tuesday. The closest the camp came to levity was watching two female fighters spar for three rounds before Mayweather got into the ring. And even that had an intensity to it not normally seen.

And even Mayweather’s dad, who has been known to engage in a war of words and recite a poem now and then, has dialed it back. He’s not responding to barbs launched by Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach. He’s not chiding Pacquiao, though he did say, “We named him ‘Just Another Opponent.’ Nothing more. Nothing less.”

Ellerbe said there’s no reason to respond to anything Team Pacquiao says.

“Freddie Roach is just trying to promote his fighter,” Ellerbe said. “He’s just doing his job. Our job is to not pay any attention to what they say and just focus on getting ready to fight come May 2.”

Mayweather remains a betting favorite for the fight, but the odds continue to shrink. At Station Casinos on Tuesday, he was down to minus-175, with Pacquiao at plus-155. Mayweather had opened a 3-1 favorite at some Las Vegas sports books when the fight was announced in February.

Ellerbe said the much-anticipated information regarding public sale of tickets and closed circuit TV at selected MGM Resorts properties on the Strip could be announced today. Tickets, which are expected to be in limited supply, will carry a face value of $1,500 to $7,500.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.