text: The richest fight of all time continues to break through the barriers of history – mostly in terms of financial records, naturally. For the first time in the annals of boxing – as Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao step on the scales next Friday – fans will be charged for admission to a weigh-in. This formality for checking that combatants weigh no more than the stipulated poundage for each division started to become an event in its own right in 2007 when Ricky Hatton went to Las Vegas to take his Man Of La Mancha tilt at the Mayweather windmill. Floyd Mayweather with girlfriend Doralie Medina (left) and Manny Pacquiao with his wife Jinkee (right) Pacquiao with his wife and  children (left to right) Michael, Israel, Emmanuel, Princess and Queen Elizabeth . Mayweather visits SubZero Recovery in Las Vegas, a new-age version of the ice bath . No fewer than 30,000 of the Manchester Hitman's army followed him across the Atlantic and thousands of them turned up for the weigh-in. The atmosphere was electrified when Hatton yelled 'let's be having him' as Mayweather was about to follow him onto the stage. Hatton would be knocked out but there was more of the same when he went back to the MGM Grand to suffer the same fate against Pacquiao two years later. Since then weigh-ins there have turned into sound and light spectacles, taking place inside the Grand Garden Arena itself, and the audiences keep growing. The decision to sell tickets for this one has been made in the interests of safety, not profit. Up to 200,000 visitors are expected to pour into Vegas this fight week and the MGM need to control the crowds at all the associated events. Thousands of fans watched Ricky Hatton and Mayweather weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena . Hatton points towards the crowd during his heated weigh-in with Mayweather in December 2007 . Mayweather poses in his TMT clothing as he takes a break from training over the weekend . To avoid accusations of cashing in on the phenomenon the hotel and both promoters – Mayweather and Top Rank – will donate all revenue from the weigh-in to charities nominated by the Money Man and the PacMan. Mayweather and Pacquiao will be required to weigh not more than 10st 7lbs. The winner will unify the WBC (Mayweather) and WBO (Pacquiao) world welterweight titles. Wladimir Klitschko, as he makes a rare appearance in the US this Saturday, admits that at 39 he has to start considering when he might hang up those huge gloves. However, assuming he adds Bryant Jennings to his long list of victims, that will not happen before Dr Iron Fist has obliged the two young pretenders to his heavyweight throne. Namely our own Tyson Fury and America's KO sensation Deontay Wilder. Wladimir Klitschko has admitted that he is considering retirement as he approaches his 40th birthday . Klitschko says: 'I do have to start thinking about retirement.' But then the Ukrainian who boxes mostly to sell-out crowds in German football stadia, adds: 'I would like to fight Fury, which would be a huge event in Europe. 'I want to fight Wilder, to add the only remaining belt to my unified world titles.' Unusually, both men would present Klitschko with opposition as tall or, in Fury's case, even taller than his own 6ft 6in. Fury is his mandatory challenger for the WBO title. Wilder holds the WBC title which was vacated by Klitschko's brother Vitali when he retired to concentrate on the violent complexities of Ukrainian politics as Mayor of Kiev. WBC heavyweight champions Deontay Wilder looks set to face Klitschko before he hangs up his gloves . Wladimir is also the WBA, IBF, IBO and Ring magazine champion. There is another factor which will tempt him to prolong his reign even further. Currently he ranks fourth in the all-time list of successive world heavyweight title defences, with 18. Victories over Jennings – which looks to be something of a formality in New York's Madison Square Garden, would lift him level with Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes on 19. If he adds wins over Fury and Wilder he will close to within just four victories of the 25-defences record held by Joe Louis. That is likely to be an opportunity too good to refuse. Tyson Fury, pictured in action against Dereck Chisora, is Klitschko's mandatory challenger for the WBO title . The crushing defeat of Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr by the largely unheralded and, in terms of his first name, unpronounceable Pole Andrzej Fonfara, complicates Carl Froch's exit strategy from the ring. One of Froch's two dream scenarios has been a farewell fight in Las Vegas, probably against Chavez with his box office appeal for America's Hispanic population and fans south of the border in Mexico. But the namesake son of an idolised father was so badly beaten up through nine rounds in California by Fonfara – suffering the first knock down of his career in the process – that he quit on his stool. Carl Froch could choose to retire after Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr's defeat by Andrzej Fonfara last week . Inadvisedly, Chavez had agreed to a catch-weight fight with light-heavyweight contender Fonfara and is talking about going back down to Froch's super-middleweight division. Whether this former middleweight champion would still be a draw after this setback is doubtful and Froch had said before the fight that it would hurt his plans 'if Chavez got knocked out. The other swansong ambition – to fight on the City Ground of his beloved Nottingham Forest – suffered a setback when Andre Ward agreed to come to England for their mandatory WBA title unifier but not to Froch's home town. Retirement is becoming an increasingly attractive option for the Cobra. Chavez (right) was stopped after nine rounds on his return to the ring following more than a year out .
target: Fans will be charged to watch a weigh-in for the first time when Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio step on the scales .
  All profits will be donated to charities nominated by the boxers .
  Mayweather and Pacquiao will be weighed at the Grand Garden Arena .
  Wladimir Klitschko admits that he is considering retirement .
  The Ukrainian looks set to fight Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder .
  Carl Froch may choose to retire after Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr's defeat by Andrzej Fonfara .
  Froch had hoped to face the Mexican in Las Vegas later this year .