ARLINGTON, Texas—It’s easy to understand why Manny Pacquiao was all smiles when he climbed the scale on Friday during the official weigh-in of The Event just outside the main entrance of the gigantic $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium here.

The World Boxing Organization welterweight champion was sure he was well within the 147-pound limit of his title defense against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

Pacquiao was even waving to the crowd of around 2,500 that had endured the chilly wind when it was announced he weighed 145 ¾ pounds, 1 ¼ pound less than Clottey who checked in first and was at an exact 147.

Truth was, the 5-foot-6 Pacquiao was still trying to bulk up in the morning so as he won’t appear like a wimp side by side with the 5’ 8” Clottey.

Never having had to diet throughout his seven-week training camp at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Pacquiao woke up at 144 lbs and even had a full breakfast of eggs, grilled pork and beef and steam rice.

After walking around the confines of the Gaylord Texan Hotel to loosen up, Pacquiao’s weight fell to 142, prompting conditioning trainer Alex Ariza to let him take another heavy meal of steak, steamed asparagus and rice, washed down by lots of water.

In contrast, Clottey was seen jumping rope and running wearing a thermal suit on Thursday, an indication that he was still overweight.

The suspicion got confirmed when Clottey underwent an unofficial weigh-in an hour before the official proceedings.

Clottey’s trainer, Lenny DeJesus, had earlier announced his ward will climb the ring at 155 pounds, but there were reports that Clottey will bulk up to as much as 165 pounds on fight night.

Though he already came in at his heaviest in a 15-year-career, Pacquiao is expected to gain weight further, perhaps breaching the 150-lb barrier for the first time.

Pacquiao weighed in at 144 pounds against Cotto last November 14 then climbed the ring at 149.

Roach doesn’t care about DeJesus’ plan for Clottey to try to overpower Pacquiao.

“The heavier he comes in, the happier I will be,” said Roach, a four-time Trainer of the Year, explaining that a rapid gain of more than 15 pounds will make a fighter sluggish.”

And if that happens, it would be easier for Pacquiao to rip through the body and break down the touted defense of Clottey with his vaunted speed and volume of punches.

After studying tapes of Clotteys previous fights, Roach noted some fundamental mistakes, prompting him to predict a knockout in the later stages.

But after watching Pacquiao breezed through the seven-week training camp and dominate his spar mates, Roach lowered it to six or seven rounds.

Lenny DeJesus, Clottey’s trainer, contradicted Roach, saying that his ward will beat Pacquiao and take the crown to Ghana.

Also present during the weigh-in were Texas billionaire Jerry Jones, owner of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys and of the stadium, former world champion Margarito Antonio, WBO junior bantamweight titlist Jorge Arce and Academy Awards winner Robert Duvall.