By Sanjeev Shetty BBC Sport Online, Las Vegas

The fight will be re-run in full on Sunday Grandstand
(BBC2, Sun 15 Sept, 1715 BST)

At the weigh-in for Saturday's fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Fernando Vargas, both men scaled 154lbs, the light middleweight limit.

About 5,000 people turned up for the weigh-in, indicating just how massive an event this is for American boxing.

De la Hoya, the man whose following includes as many women as men, was greeted by wolf whistles and screaming teenyboppers, as well as a scattering of boos.

Although both men stood some 30 metres apart, they displayed enough machismo to make John Wayne proud.

Vargas took his top off and posed very willingly for his adoring fans.

He then turned to face De la Hoya and made a gesture which indicated that heart and courage may be a factor on Saturday.

In turn De la Hoya pointed to his chin to suggest that Vargas' ability to absorb punishment may be dubious.

Both have Mexican blood and a huge portion of the crowd was comprised of fans making the trip across the border.

For Saturday's battle, the fighters will be wearing 10oz gloves.

This should be an advantage for De la Hoya, who is expected to box a scientific fight and not get drawn into too many toe-to-toe exchanges.

A commonly held belief is that 10oz gloves suit boxers without too much power, while heavy hitters such as Vargas prefer the lighter eight-ounce variety.

Comic moment of the day belonged to light middleweight Maurice Brown.

He posed with a boa constrictor snake around his neck after weighing in for his fight with former world title challenger Shibata Flores.

Flores' handlers may hope that it had the desired effect on their fighter, who, after failing to make the weight, needs to lose two pounds.

Rumour has it that Lennox Lewis has probably had his last fight for this calendar year.

February 2003 should be the next time we see the 37-year-old in his boxing shorts, against Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko.