Manny Pacquiao winding up camp, heading to Las Vegas on Monday

Fight week has finally arrived, and if you're on Interstate 15 heading north between Los Angeles and Las Vegas sometime late Monday afternoon, you might catch a glimpse of Manny Pacquiao and his entourage en route to Las Vegas for the mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Pacquiao has a custom-painted bus he'll be riding in after he finishes his final workout on Monday at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood and begins the trek to Las Vegas to officially start the countdown to Saturday's latest incarnation of boxing's "Fight of the Century."

Pacquiao is staying at Mandalay Bay, not the MGM Grand where the fight is being held. And to this point, he's not planning to make a public appearance at the MGM until the final news conference on Wednesday. He was slated to attend the grand arrival ceremonies on Tuesday at the MGM but his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, is feuding with MGM officials and decided to have Pacquiao skip the arrival.

Given that the press conference is closed to the public and there is a $10 charge for the weigh-in, which is already sold-out, Arum's decision to have Pacquiao skip the grand arrival means fans won't have any access to him before the fight without paying.

It's a short-sighted move in a number of ways, because Mandalay Bay is an MGM Resorts-owned property, as well. It's not as if Arum is hurting the MGM in any way. He thinks it's symbolic and perhaps easier on Pacquiao, which it might be, but this is an opportunity for the fans to see and celebrate their hero. Fans have waited more than five years for a chance to see the two men fight and the average fan has been priced out of this fight.

It would be wise for Arum to reconsider and have Pacquiao go through with the arrival as a nod to the fan base.

Arum's problem with the MGM's management, which stems in large part from incendiary comments he made about an MGM executive last year, shouldn't be allowed to impact Pacquiao and, most importantly, short-change the fans.

It's a bad visual and it's one that Top Rank president Todd duBoef ought to convince Arum to change.