The best venues in Las Vegas have seen many a curtain call from some of the biggest stars. Barbara Streisand, Tom Jones, Celine Dion and "Ol' Blue Eyes" himself, Frank Sinatra, have all trodden the boards of the finest stages the strip has to offer. It might be the final curtain for Manny Pacquiao this weekend at the MGM Grand, as he looks to upgrade his belt from the WBA welterweight title and take Keith Thurman's WBA welterweight super title.
The Filipino eight-division champion is firmly on the back nine of his career. Approaching 41 years of age, Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KO's) is a remarkable fighter and will be a first-ballot inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible five years after retiring. But the one opponent no fighter can beat is Father Time, and the clock is ticking down on what has been a stellar career.
Back in 1998 when Pacquiao won his first world title at flyweight, nobody could have thought that we would still be talking about him today, facing an unbeaten champion at welterweight.