LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - Floyd Mayweather will walk into the ring Saturday for his welterweight title showdown against fellow unbeaten Ricky Hatton with a Texas billionaire and a race car champion in his entourage.
But hes still going to have a feisty English brawler in front of him when he stands alone to defend the World Boxing Council welterweight crown and more questions are being asked about Mayweathers hunger since becoming a celebrity.
Mayweather said Thursday fellow "Dancing with the Stars" contestants Mark Cuban, who owns basketballs Dallas Mavericks, Vegas showman Wayne Newton and Helio Castroneves, a two-time Indianapolis 500 champion, will accompany him to the ring.
"Dancing with the Stars was such a great experience for me this year and now to have Helio, Mark and Wayne be a part of my real world makes it that much more meaningful," Mayweather said.
Mayweathers real world of Vegas neon and glitz, however, might be taking him too far from the ring world he has thus far dominated, warned Bernard Hopkins, the 10-year world middleweight champion helping promote the fight.
"How do you separate yourself from Dancing with the Stars, the undefeated record, the six or seven belts, and when do you become mentally soft and spiritually soft?" Hopkins wondered.
"It is a fight for Ricky to win and Floyd to lose. Everybody knows Floyd can fight, but how do you still fight like a hungry man when your refrigerator is full?"
Brazils Castroneves, who won the US television dance contest, will carry Mayweathers championship belt into the ring, then watch his first fight to see who carries it out again.
"We all knew Floyd could dance but now we have a chance to watch him really do his thing," Castroneves said. "I will leave my trophy at home so I can carry Floyds belt and show him my support."
"Floyd is a great guy and a hell of a competitor," Cuban said. "I cant wait to watch him fight and Im honored that he has become a good friend."
Hatton has his big-name supporters too, with football star Wayne Rooney having joined his walk to the ring for his most recent fight.
But Hattons friends join him for drinks at the pub, a more blue-collar scene than Mayweathers rich crowd.
And Hatton wonders if Mayweather does not surround himself with ego-boosters to find something he might lack when the bell rings.
"Hes got his uncle who says hes the greatest trainer the world has ever seen and him saying hes the greatest fighter the world has ever seen. Everyone around him says they are the greatest," Hatton said.
"So when you get in there and suddenly your back is against the wall, it becomes a shock to the system when you prey so much on confidence."
Hatton is counting on keeping up the pressure until something cracks in the champion.
"The guy with the most talent doesnt always win. Sometimes it comes down to who wants it most, whos in the best shape," Hatton said.
"Floyd hasnt faced a good body shot by somebody who will follow it up. Styles make fights. Everybody has got a nightmare and Im his."
Hopkins and promotion partner Oscar de la Hoya are backing the Englishman with an eye to the potential of a Hatton-De la Hoya bout if the Manchester fighter dethrones Mayweather.
"Ricky Hatton is like the Energizer Bunny. Ive never seen the man get tired," Hopkins said. "At the end of the day he outhustles Mayweather for a unanimous decision."
