Pacquiao moves his ‘grand arrival’ to Mandalay Bay

Manny Pacquiao’s fans will get to see him “arrive” in Las Vegas after all. And Floyd Mayweather Jr. will have the stage at the MGM Grand Garden all to himself.

Pacquiao, who made it to Las Vegas Monday from Los Angeles via a special bus, will appear at Mandalay Bay’s South Convention Center’s Bayside C at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The event is free to the public with the doors opening at 10 a.m. Mayweather will appear, as originally scheduled, at the Grand Garden at 3 p.m. Doors open at 1 p.m. Mayweather’s arrival is also free to attend.

Pacquiao was originally scheduled to appear at the MGM for his arrival along with Mayweather. But Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, convinced the fighter to forego that event and hold his own special arrival.

Arum has been feuding with MGM officials for more than a year now since a dispute over signage from Pacquiao’s last Las Vegas fight — April 12, 2014 — when he faced Timothy Bradley. There was competing signage on the property for Mayweather’s May 3 fight with Marcos Maidana.

Mayweather’s grand arrival will include entertainment from the Southern University marching band and comedian Ricky Smiley beginning at 2 p.m.

The “grand arrivals” have traditionally been the kickoff to major fight week festivities and in the past, the fighters would arrive in front of the MGM Grand and enter to the lobby where fans could get a photo opportunity and the fighters would do television interviews. But the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was too big to be contained to the lobby and it was decided to use the Grand Garden.

But that was before Pacquiao decided to go his own way and hold his own special arrival for his fans at Mandalay Bay. It will mean a little extra traveling for fans who wanted to see both fighters but there should be plenty of time to make both arrivals.

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