Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao
DateMay 2, 2015
VenueMGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineWBA (Unified), WBC, WBO, and The Ring welterweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Manny Pacquiao
Nickname Money Pac-Man
Hometown Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. General Santos, Philippines
Pre-fight record 47–0 (26 KO) 57–5–2 (38 KO)
Age 38 years, 2 months 36 years, 4 months
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) 5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (166 cm)
Weight 146 lb (66 kg) 145 lb (66 kg)
Style Orthodox Southpaw
Recognition WBA (Unified), WBC, and The Ring welterweight champion
WBA (Super), WBC, and The Ring light middleweight champion
The Ring No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
5-division world champion		 WBO welterweight champion
The Ring No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
8-division world champion
Result
Mayweather Jr. wins via 12-round unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112, 118-110)

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, billed as the Fight of the Century or the Battle for Greatness,[1] was a professional boxing match between undefeated five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. It took place on May 2, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Mayweather Jr. won the contest by unanimous decision,[2] with two judges scoring it 116–112 and the other 118–110. Although the fight was considered to be one of the most anticipated sporting events in history, it was largely considered a letdown by critics and audiences alike upon its broadcast.[3]

Despite predictions that Mayweather–Pacquiao would be the highest-grossing fight in history as early as 2009, disagreements between the two professional boxers' camps on terms for the fight prevented the bout from coming to fruition until 2015.[4][5] The failure to arrange the Mayweather–Pacquiao fight was named the 2010 Event of the Year by The Ring.[6] Serious negotiations were kickstarted in 2014 by an unlikely source: a Hollywood waiter and part-time actor, Gabriel Salvador,[7] made a key introduction between Pacquiao's trainer and confidant Freddie Roach and CBS President Les Moonves, who both worked to facilitate the match.[8][9][10] By 2015, negotiations for the fight had been finalized, with all of the major issues that prevented the fight from happening in the past resolved, including purse split, drug testing, and location.[11][12]

The fight was televised through a pay-per-view (PPV) jointly produced by HBO and Showtime, the respective rightsholders of Pacquiao and Mayweather. In the Philippines, the fight was also broadcast in simulcast across three of the country's major broadcast television networks. The fight was expected to be the most lucrative in the history of professional boxing: with an initial estimate of 4.4 million purchases, the PPV alone broke revenue records in the United States (U.S.) with $410 million in revenue, making it the highest-grossing PPV in history, surpassing Mayweather–Álvarez in 2013. By September 2015, the figure had been amended to 4.6 million.[13][14][15][16] The broadcast of the fight in the Philippines was watched by nearly half the country's households. Due to the record high price of the PPV, the fight was also widely broadcast through unauthorized online streams on services such as Periscope.

Despite the large amount of hype that surrounded it, critics felt that the bout itself was disappointing, primarily citing Mayweather's defense-oriented strategy in the ring and Pacquiao's difficulty in landing punches on Mayweather. This had led to some critics re-labelling the fight "Better Never Than Late" rather than "Fight of the Century".[17] It was later revealed following the event that Pacquiao had sustained an undisclosed injury to his right shoulder while training and that while it had healed in time for the fight, he re-injured it during the fourth round. Further controversy emerged when it was revealed that prior to the fight, Mayweather had been administered IV fluids cleared by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) through a retroactive "therapeutic use exemption"—an exemption, however, not authorized by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

  1. ^ Nathanielsz, Ronnie (March 14, 2015). "Arum: Pacquiao Will Do a De La Hoya Job on Mayweather". BoxingScene. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  2. ^ "New Stats Show Floyd Mayweather Didn't Win Fight Against Manny Pacquiao". www.inquisitr.com. October 28, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  3. ^ "Mayweather-Pacquiao fight: Floyd Mayweather wins by unanimous decision". The Washington Post.
  4. ^ Iole, Kevin (June 1, 2012). "Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao nearly agreed to a 2010 fight, documents show". Yahoo! Sports.
  5. ^ "Bob Arum calls Pacquiao-Mayweather fight dead". GMA Network. December 25, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2012.
  6. ^ "PAST WINNERS OF THE RING'S YEAR-END AWARDS". The Ring. February 24, 2012. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  7. ^ "Hollywood waiter to thank for 'Fight of the Century?'". Las Vegas Review-Journal. May 1, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Waiter has a hand in Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao matchup". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  10. ^ Willis, George (March 21, 2015). "The Fox star who made Mayweather-Pacquiao bout a reality". New York Post. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  11. ^ "Mayweather-Pacquiao set for May 2". ESPN. February 20, 2015.
  12. ^ "Floyd Mayweather Announces Manny Pacquiao Fight Via Selfie App Shots". Re/code. February 20, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  13. ^ Iole, Kevin (September 10, 2015). "Showtime's Stephen Espinoza: Mayweather deal a resounding success". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  14. ^ Rafael, Dan (September 18, 2015). "Sources: Mayweather-Berto draws between 400K and 550K PPV buys". ESPN. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  15. ^ Gaines, Cork (September 17, 2015). "Floyd Mayweather's last fight was a complete disaster, and nobody watched it". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  16. ^ Riccobono, Anthony (September 18, 2015). "Floyd Mayweather News: In Last Fight, Floyd Makes Far Less Than Manny Pacquiao Bout". International Business Times. IBT Media. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  17. ^ Ben Dirs (May 31, 2015). "BBC Sport - Forget MayPac - brilliant Brits breathe life into boxing". BBC Sport. Retrieved June 29, 2015.