Fans take photos in front of a Mayweather promotions bus parked in front of MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)

All you need to know about the welterweight superfight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas tomorrow

When does the fight begin?
After years of negotiations, months of hype and weeks of build-up, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will finally meet in the ring on Saturday night at around 8pm local time (11pm in New York, 6am on Sunday morning in Doha).

Where is the fight taking place?
The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The arena has hosted various sporting occasions, including NHL matches, college basketball, a women’s volleyball tournament, UFC, WCW wrestling and even indoor soccer, but it is best known for boxing. Both fighters have competed here; Mayweather’s last 10 fights have been in the MGM Grand and Pacquiao has fought there 12 times.
The Garden Arena is housed within the MGM Grand, the largest hotel in the US and the second largest in the world. It has 6,852 rooms and enough slot machines to make (or you) a fortune. If you have tickets for the fight, you might want to stick around; David Copperfield has a residency at the hotel and Bette Midler is in town later this month.

How much money will they make?
Mayweather will receive 60% of the $300mn (£195mn) purse, with Pacquiao taking 40%. If the fight goes the distance, Mayweather will make $5mn per minute, with Pacquiao earning $3.3mn per minute.

Which belts are up for grabs?
The boxers are fighting at the welterweight limit of 147lbs (66.7kg), with Mayweather’s
WBC and WBA titles and Pacquiao’s WBO
titles on the line.

Who will win the main event?
Mayweather is the bookmakers’ favourite at 1-2, with Pacquiao priced at 15-8 and the draw at 16-1. If you really fancy a flutter, Mayweather is priced at 200/1 to win within 60 seconds, with Pacquiao slightly shorter at 150/1.
Amir Khan, who wants to face the winner, and Ricky Hatton, who lost to both of them, expects Mayweather to prevail, but Mike Tyson and George Foreman are backing Pacquiao.

How much do tickets cost?
The 16,800-seat arena will be packed, but members of the public will have struggled to buy any tickets. The small number of seats that went on general sale last Thursday were snapped up within a minute, despite costing from $1,500 to $10,000. Tickets on the secondary market will go for a lot more. Pacquiao spent upwards of $4mn buying 900 tickets for his entourage, so he won’t have to worry too much about a home crowd.

Who is the referee?
Kenny Bayless, who has officiated at five of Mayweather’s bouts and seven of Pacquiao’s. He will earn a record $25,000 (£16,280) for his night’s work (more than double the usual rate for a world title fight).

What are their records?
Mayweather has won all 47 of his professional fights, but he was defeated six times as an amateur, including once at the 1996 Olympics, where he won a bronze medal. Pacquiao has been beaten five times in 64 fights since he turned professional in 1995. He has knocked out a higher percentage of his opponents (59% to Mayweather’s 55%) but neither fighter has won by knockout since 2009.

What next for the two fighters?
Mayweather, who turned 38 in February, says this will be his penultimate fight, with one more bout pencilled in for September. If Saturday night goes well for him, expect to re-read a version of this article in four months’ time. Pacquiao stars in movies, plays basketball, releases pop songs and sits as a congressman in his native Philippines, so he has more than enough to keep him busy if he retires after the fight. Either way, they will both be set up for life.