Floyd Mayweather insists he will not allow his record $41.5m (€31.2m) purse to become a distraction when he defends his unbeaten record against Mexico’s Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas tonight.

Manchester’s light-welterweight king Ricky Hatton faces Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Casino in the early hours of tomorrow morning in the first super-fight of 2009. But has the economic downturn impacted on the appetite for big time boxing Stateside? Simon Lewis reports from Nevada.

Johnny Tapia has good reason not to be scared ahead of his world featherweight title fight in Las Vegas tonight.