Mayweather, Pacquiao hold final presser ahead of megafight — PHOTOS

If Saturday’s megafight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is anything like Wednesday’s final news conference to promote their world welterweight unification title showdown at the MGM Grand Garden, the Nevada National Guard may have to be called out to handle the angry mob that will be the disappointed sellout crowd of 16,700.

The final get-together for reporters and the fighters at the MGM’s Ka Theater was beyond boring. How boring? The stump speech from MGM executive Richard Sturm, which is normally a snoozer, was a highlight. The hourlong event to promote the megafight was more about what wasn’t said than what was actually said.

Fireworks? Ha!

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s incendiary promoter, couldn’t light a fuse underneath the proceedings. Arum’s subtle digs at Sturm, who has become one of his archenemies along with Mayweather’s adviser Al Haymon, barely registered on the laugh-o-meter, much less raised anyone’s ire.

Arum thanked Mandalay Bay, where Pacquiao is staying, praising the property for its hospitality. Then he acknowledged that Mandalay Bay is part of the MGM family and that the MGM should take pride in his praising Mandalay Bay.

Pacquiao and Mayweather both praised God. Both thanked the media and the fans for their support of the fight, and both pronounced themselves ready to go.

There was no Floyd Mayweather Sr. on stage to exchange words with Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach. Mayweather’s uncle Roger was kept a safe distance from the podium so anything X-rated coming out of his mouth would never make “SportsCenter” on ESPN, which has half of Bristol in Las Vegas covering this fight.

But this is what happens when every ticket is sold, every closed-circuit seat is long gone, even the tickets to Friday’s weigh-in sold out. The early pay-per-view buys are exceptionally strong and, therefore, no added theatrics were needed Wednesday to get people to pick up the phone and call their satellite provider or their cable company and order the fight.

So everyone played it safe and was on their best behavior. The reality is, there probably wasn’t a need to hold a news conference. But since they had negotiated it into the contract, they went ahead with it.

Arum had little choice but to go a different way in filling his allotted time onstage, telling the attendees what a great guy Pacquiao is, how the congressman from the Philippines intervened on behalf of a Filipino woman who was arrested for drug trafficking in Indonesia and was sentenced to death until Pacquiao managed to have the woman’s life spared because he wrote a letter to the president of Indonesia.

Yeah, that’ll drive pay-per-view buys.

Even Roach, who can usually be counted on to tweak the other side, kept things civil — at least at the podium.

“This is big,” Roach said when it was his turn at the microphone. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

Prior to the news conference, Roach was more himself.

When asked why he thought Mayweather was so low-key, he said: “I don’t think this is a fight he wants to be in. Floyd didn’t get to handpick his opponent this time.”

Afterward, Mayweather Sr., who trains his son, said he’s hardly concerned about Pacquiao.

“He can’t punch,” the elder Mayweather said of Pacquiao, who hasn’t registered a KO since 2009 when he stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round of their super welterweight fight. “We ain’t worried about it. I’m gonna have Floyd walk his ass down. Simple as that.”

Prior to the news conference, Arum was asked about a potential rematch. He wasn’t biting on that one.

“Rematch?” he said. “This has been the most painful experience of my promotional career, and you want me to talk about a (expletive) rematch? I’m a citizen of the United States of America, and there’s a provision under the Constitution that protects me from cruel and unusual punishment.”

Of course, that same law applied to anyone who witnessed the news conference 30 minutes later in the Ka Theater. But Pacquiao said he and Mayweather will put on a great show Saturday and will give the fans a good performance.

“We will do our best to put our names in boxing history,” Pacquiao said.

They better. Wednesday’s performance was profoundly forgettable.

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