MANILA, Philippines – The weigh-in for the fight between World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and challenger Joshua Clottey of Ghana was held Friday (Saturday in Manila) outside the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

Filipinos came in droves to show their all-out support for the world's only 7-division boxing champion.

There were some supporters for Ghana's boxing star.

Mexican boxing legend Marco Antonio Barrera was in town as sports anchor for the sports channel, ESPN.  Barrera said  Pacquiao has gotten so much better since they fought and should triumph over Clottey.

Actor Robert Duval travelled from Los Angeles to be at ringside. Duval is a big boxing fan and thinks very highly of Manny Pacquiao.

Clottey got to the stadium a little early and hung out inside the stadium as he gazed at the ring being set up in the center of the venue.

Before the official weigh-in, Clottey stepped out to the scales to make sure he was not beyond the 147-pound welterweight limit.

Pacquiao was relaxed as he waited in one side of the arena with wife Jinkee, former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson and Team Pacquiao.

Pacquiao has won his last 11 fights. The bout with Clottey is his 3rd in the welterweight division.

Before the fighters came on stage, fans were awed by the grand opening of one entire side of the Dallas venue, which revealed the grand arena as backdrop.
 

Clottey seen to fight at 160 lbs

Michael Buffer called the fighters on stage.

The challenger was first. He tipped the scales at the 147 limit, and he is expected to go up to 160 pounds by fight night.

Pacquiao was lighter at 145 and ¾ pounds. He is not expected to be more than 150 pounds on Saturday night.

Pacquiao and Clottey posed and showed off their muscle.

Fans enjoyed watching them joke around as well.

It was a cold and windy day outside so the fighters were brought into the stadium immediately after the weigh in.

Pacquiao went directly to one of the Dallas Cowboys locker rooms where his food was prepared--tinolang manok, beef steak, chicken kebab, scrambled eggs with ampalaya and lots of rice.

The champion ate slowly.

A different story on fight night

Pacquiao said they were both friendly on stage on Friday, but when the bell rings on Saturday, it will be a different story

The Pacman asked for the continued prayers of Filipinos to help him secure another boxing victory.

Pacquiao said he cannot afford to be overconfident.
  
“Si Joshua Clottey mabait na tao, friendly. Pero hindi p’wede magkumpyansa kasi iyong mga mabait na tao matindi iyan... ibang klase,” said the world's best pound-for-pound fighter.

Pacquiao holds the record of being the only boxer to win 7 titles in 7 different weight classes.

He said that he would have to assert himself against the bigger fighter.

“Kung hindi mo siya suntukin, ikaw ang susuntukin,” he said. “So pipili ka lang kung ikaw ang mabubugbog o ikaw ang mangbubugbog.”

Clottey for his part said he doesn’t care about the fight prediction favoring his opponent. He said only he decides his fate in the ring.

“I don't mind about what people think. It's me that's going to fight. I have my game plan and I have what I'm going to do,” said the Ghanaian challenger after his last workout before the weigh-in. “It's me."

Filipinos fear blackout during fight

Meanwhile,  Filipinos fear a television black-out as they gather to watch Pacquiao defend his world welterweight title on Sunday and the fraying national power grid feels the strain.

The National Grid Corp acknowledged that the electricity network, already subject to regular black-outs, could face difficulties as millions of Filipinos try to tune in for the bout against Clottey at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

Pacquiao, who is seven-time world champion and current World Boxing Organization welterweight king, is revered across this impoverished archipelago and has even launched a parallel political career -- he is mounting a campaign for a seat in Congress.

But with infrastructure tottering, power cuts have become common this year and many Filipinos fear they could miss the fight, due around noon Sunday (0400 GMT).

"The system may not be able to accommodate the anticipated rise in power demand on March 14, the day of the boxing match of Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey," the National Grid Corp. said.

Power demand up during Pacquiao fights

Experience shows that "demand increases by as much as 100 megawatts whenever Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao has a televised boxing fight" as television sets are switched on and shopping malls, cinemas and restaurants open early to show the fight, the corporation said in a statement.

Manila and its surrounds were hit by rotating short-duration power cuts for the second day running on Saturday due to problems at three generating plants on the main island of Luzon, while a fourth plant ran out of fuel, the firm said.

The entire southern island of Mindanao, Pacquiao's home region, was 602 megawatts short of demand Saturday due to drought depleting hydroelectricity plants.

But Joe Zaldarriaga, spokesman for Manila Electric Co, expressed hope that the main population centre would have enough supply so its 20 million-odd customers would be able to watch and enjoy the fight.

"Basically, the demand on Sunday is much less compared to ordinary days," he said.

"Hopefully, the entire nation would be able to watch the Pambansang Kamao tomorrow," he said, using Pacquiao's local moniker. -- with a report from Agence France-Presse

For a blow-by-blow report on the Pacquiao-Clottey fight, click here.