MACAO >> Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios have made weight for their WBO welterweight fight in Macao on Sunday (today Hawaii time).

Weighing in at the unusual time of 7.30 a.m. today to accommodate U.S. TV, Pacquiao was at 145 pounds, while Rios was 146.5.

"My goal was 145 and I feel strong, so there is nothing to worry about," Pacquiao said.

"I have been doing this since I was 23 years old, I’m hungry."

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said his fighter was "a pound more than I thought he would be" but on track to enter the ring at 149.

Rios said his making of the weight proved Roach wrong.

"This message goes out to Freddie Roach, who said I’m a bum, I’m a fat loser and I can never make weight — guess what, I made weight, I feel great," Rios said.

"When you doubt me you make me stronger. (They) are worried, I’m not worried, I feel confident."

Roach laughed off the comment, saying Rios struggled to make it even though he had now moved up two weight divisions in three fights.

"If he can’t make 147 he’s a joke," Roach said. "He almost couldn’t make 135 or 140 and even at 147 he struggled every day, he had plastics on. This is a world title fight, you make weight."

The undercard begins at 8 a.m. Sunday local time (2 p.m. Hawaii time today), with the main event at The Venetian casino expected to begin around three hours later.

———

Chris Lines, Associated Press