text: Ask Manny Pacquiao why he believes boxing to be the greatest sport of all and there is no mention of the $120 million or more he will be paid for going toe-to-toe with Floyd Mayweather in the most lucrative fist fight in history. Rather, his mind goes back to when the PacMan was the PacKid, a 12-year-old urchin in the mud of the Philippines whose mother was eking out the food for the family. ‘Somebody told me and my friends some fights were being put on in the town,’ he recalls. ‘I did not know what boxing was but they said they you got a prize whatever the result. Two hundred pesos (two dollars) to win, a hundred to lose.’ Manny Pacquiao was the star attraction as he held an open workout in Los Angeles on Wednesday . Pacquiao was in good spirits as he showed off his skills for the gathered crowd at the Wild Card gym . Pacquiao addressed gathered media and talked about his upcoming May 2 fight with Floyd Mayweather . Pacquaio opened up about his motivation, his belief in God and journey to the top in boxing . Pacquaio works out in the ring in front of the world's media . Pacquiao does some pad work with trainer Freddie Roach . Pacquiao held an open training session at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood . The Filipino star works on his body shots with Roach . 'So we went and I won. I took the two dollars home and gave them to my mother so she could put more food on the table. But when she asked where I got the money I didn’t tell her it was for fighting. ‘We went back every Sunday and I kept winning the two dollars. Then my uncle came with a stack of videos and I watched Ali and Foreman and Holyfield and so many others.’ And so it began. ‘Boxing is the best sport because it teaches you about life,’ he says. ‘It taught me you will receive if you give back.’ It is a lesson he wants to pass on to Mayweather. ‘When this fight is finished I would like us to sit down quietly together to talk,’ says Pacquiao. ‘I want to speak to him about the Gospel of the Lord and how everything we get is a gift from God. How we are the stewards of this blessing and should use it for good.’ Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach (right) do some padwork as the media gather to watch . Pacquiao showed off his impressive speed - which he will hope will trouble Mayweather . Pacquiao looked calm and content as he went through his stretching and warm-up routine . Pacquiao and Roach take a break from the workout as they prepare for the biggest fight of their lives . Twenty-four hours earlier the equivalent story told by Mayweather was of how he told those close to him that he would become the first boxer to earn more than a hundred million bucks in a night. And since he is reputed to spend his fortunes on fast cars, fast living and fast women, this may seem an unlikely post-fight reunion. But the PacMan smooths the way to the Money Man by saying: ‘Floyd deserves his money because he’s earned it. He has the right to use it his way. But I would like to tell him how good it feels to help people who need it, like giving them plots of land and the houses they build on them.’ Pacquiao’s generosity to his impoverished countrymen is as legendary as Mayweather’s excesses, although it should be stressed that Floyd Jnr is a charitable benefactor himself. But there is a difference, also, in their view of their craft. Mayweather admits that he has fallen out of love with boxing and regards it now as a business. Pacquiao says: ‘Boxing is still my passion. I do it to please the fans, to give them excitement in return for their support. Not for the money. I am not a materialist. Pacquiao started to warm-up in front of the gathered crowd after first speaking to the media (right) Pacquiao opened up about his journey from fighting in the Philippines to the richest boxing bout in history . Pacquiao says he wants to entertain the fans and has warned Mayweather that his killer instinct is back . ‘Now we have one of the biggest fights in history. But it’s not about how much we will be paid. Whether it’s two dollars or a hundred million dollars - it’s what you do with it.’ Mayweather suspects that Pacquiao’sl determination to give the fans their money’s worth – especially when they will be forking out huge amounts in Las Vegas on May to watch their Fight of the Century – may be his downfall. He describes Pacquiao as a reckless fighter, citing his shocking KO by Juan Manuel Marquez as proof. The PacMan responds: ‘We would be nothing without the fans and this fight would not be so big. So we should entertain them. Yes, sometimes there is a price to pay, but it is worth it.’ There is method to what Mayweather regards as madness. Floyd Jnr morphed into Mr Money by virtue of one of the most clever defences ever erected in the prize-ring. PacMan says: ‘Boxing is about punching.’ Pacquiao's trainer Roach was also much sought after at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles . Roach had concerns that Pacquiao led too busy a lifestyle and it was previously affecting his performances . He would like to draw his rival as the best pound-for-pound boxer into an open fight: ‘If he comes to try to knock me out it would be good for me. We’ll see. ‘But whatever happens it should be a better fight than five years ago, when everyone says it should have happened. We are fully developed as fighters and the world is watching now.’ Mayweather keeps insisting it is ‘just another fight.’ Pacquiao says: ‘I’m excited. I love it. No, this fight will not define my career. That is done by all my accomplishments in becoming the only eight-division world champion. But winning this will be a big additional achievement for my legacy,’ He did bridle when Mayweather’s Money Team insinuated that he had risen through the weights with the help of chemical substances, which was why he challenged his opponent that if one of them tested positive for drugs that man should pay the other $5 million. It was an offer Mayweather refused. Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum talks to the media ahead of the fight with Mayweather in May . But perhaps, naturally charming though he is and endlessly obliging to all and sundry, a little of that resentment is driving him on. His trainer Freddie Roach had been concerned that in rediscovering God and purifying his life-style he may have lost some of his bite – and hence the drop in knock-out ratio. Pacquiao says; ‘My determination to win has never been higher than for this fight. My killer instinct is back.’ At this very moment his pet Jack Russell terrier, also called PacMan and who accompanies him everywhere including the gym, barks. Loudly enough to be heard above the frenzied clamour of his master’s media day at Roach’s iconic Wild Card gym in West Hollywood. Pacquiao grins: ‘It’s nothing personal with Mayweather. We are just fighting for many things.’ Floyd Mayweather hit the pads with uncle Roger during a media workout at his Las Vegas gym on Tuesday . Mayweather revealed he is no longer enjoying his boxing and sees the sport more as a business now . Mayweather works to the body with co-trainer Nate Jones in front of a huge crowd at his gym . There is no re-match clause in the contract and Mayweather has expressed no appetite for there to be a second fight. But for Pacquiao one good reason would be for him to even up split of the gigantic purse. ‘I am not happy to have conceded 60-40 per cent to Floyd,’ he says. ‘Negotiating would be easier for the re-match. To make this happen we had to give him everything he wanted. If there is a next time it would be a different deal. ‘Not for me. For my people. I cannot see anyone going hungry and not help them.’ Once again, his mind is taking him back 24 years to the Philippines and those two-dollar fights.
target: Manny Pacquiao held a media workout at the famous Wild Card Gym .
  He is just over two weeks away from facing Floyd Mayweather on May 2 .
  Pacquiao will earn more than $120m from the richest fight in boxing .
  But Pacquiao says he is not materialistic and fights to please the fans .
  Ricky Hatton: Pacquiao has style but Mayweather 'will find a way to win'