Pacquiao vs. Mayweather

[5/7/15] Pacquiao has shoulder surgery

[5/5/15] Vanel v. Pacquiao

[5/5/15] Freddie Roach considered postponing the bout

[5/4/15] Stephen A. Smith vs. Skip Bayless

[5/4/15] did Mayweather know about Pacquiao's injury?

[5/4/15] Pacquiao to undergo surgery for injured shoulder

Revenue expected to double the previous record

Sadness in the Phillipines

Evander Holyfield and Shane Mosley and others scored it for Pacquiao.

TheGuardian had it 116-112 Mayweather, giving Manny the final round.

Looking at the official scorecards, the judges agreed on 1 (M), 2 (M), 3 (M), 4 (P), 5 (M), 6 (P), 7 (M), 8 (M), 11 (M), 12 (M).  So 8-2-2 Mayweather.  The first two judges gave rounds 9 and 10 to Pacquiao and agreed on every round.  The other judge gave rounds 9 and 10 to Mayweather.

Yahoo had it 115-113 Mayweather.

L.A. Times: 115-113, 114-114, 115-113 / The three judges agreed on round 1 (m), 2 (m), 4 (p), 5 (m), 6 (p), 12 (m).  So that makes it 4 Mayweather, 2 Pacquiao, 6 even.  Not so lopsided at all.

Round by Round (AP scored it 115-113 Mayweather.)

[5/2/15] LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather stands alone.

Unified welterweight world champion.

The pound-for-pound best.

And king of the era.

Mayweather turned in a vintage performance as he outboxed Manny Pacquiao in a brilliant display to win a unanimous decision in one of the biggest fights in boxing history before a sold-out and star-studded crowd of 16,507 on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Judge Dave Moretti scored the fight 118-110, and judges Glenn Feldman and Burt Clements both had it 116-112. ESPN.com also had it 116-112 for Mayweather, who remains undefeated at 48-0.

The massively hyped fight, more than five years in the making, became a global event. While it was not the drama-filled battle many had hoped for, it was an impressive performance from Mayweather, the master boxer, who never allowed the more powerful Pacquiao to deliver any truly big punches as he pulled away in the second half of the fight.

Mayweather, who had many harsh words for Pacquiao over the years before the fight was finally signed in February, was gracious in victory.

"He's a hell of a fighter. I take my hat off to Manny Pacquiao," Mayweather said. "Now I see why he's one of the guys at the pinnacle."

And while the fight took years to make because of the intense squabbling between camps that do not like each other, Mayweather said it was worth the wait.

"He is a true champion at heart, and we both did our best tonight. When the books are written, it will be a great fight," he said.

Perhaps history will not record it as a great fight, but it will go down as the richest. It generated a live gate of approximately $74 million, and the pay-per-view television audience -- at about $100 per buy -- is expected to shatter the pay-per-view buy record (2.48 million) and pay-per-view revenue record ($150 million) set by previous Mayweather fights. In all, organizers expect the fight to generate some $400 million, and it was so big that it brought together rival networks HBO, which has Pacquiao under contract, and Showtime, Mayweather's broadcast home.

Mayweather, already the highest-paid athlete in the world in recent years, is expected to earn an estimated $180 million from the fight and Pacquiao around $120 million.

[5/2/15] It's fight time.

[5/1/15] Experts pick: Mayweather 10, Pacquiao 6, 1 draw (closer than I would have thought), 5 boxers who fought both Mayweather and Pacquiao were asked.  4 picked Mayweather, including Juan Manuel Marquez who KO'd Pacquiao in their last fight.  Pacquiao has lost to five fighters in his career, but avenged his losses to Eric Morales and Timothy Bradley.

Pacquiao is first and only eight division world champion, has won ten world titles, and is the current WBO welterweight champion.  Mayweather is a five divison world champion, has also won ten world titles, and is the WBC, WBA, Ring welterweight champion, and is also the WBC Super, WBA, Ring junior middleweight champion.  He has a record of 47-0 and is rated the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world.  Pacquiao is third.

A fight six years in the making

[4/23/15] According to TMZ's Anthony Dominic, every ticket for the event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas was sold within the first minute after being made available to the public Thursday:

[2/20/15] Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced Friday that he's agreed to fight Manny Pacquiao in a welterweight bout May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. It's a bout the public has been calling for since late 2009 and pits the two finest boxers of their generation in a historic event.

[2/14/15] The deal is reportedly done. The biggest fight in boxing history is expected to take place May 2.
According to The Telegraph, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao have finally come to terms in what will be the richest match-up in boxing history.

Mayweather is currently in New York for NBA All-Star Weekend, and some speculate he will officially announce the match in the coming days. There's also chatter the popular boxer could even announce it during the All-Star festivities. That would be the ultimate Mayweather move. On the other side of the spectrum, Pacquiao has signed and completed all things necessary.

The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas will be the setting of the epic bout. Both fighters have ties to the venue, with Pacquiao having five of his past seven fights there, and Mayweather having his last ten. There are two other possible dates, but May 2 seems to be the favorite.

The revenue breakdown for each fighter is almost evenly split with Mayweather receiving 60 percent to Pacquiao's 40.

[1/28/15] Floyd visits Manny in hotel room

[1/28/15] Manny and Floyd meet ... at basketball game

[1/13/15] The fight the world has wanted to see for the better part of six years -- a long-awaited summit meeting between welterweight champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, the two top boxers in the world -- is not done, but it has cleared a major hurdle.

Pacquiao and Top Rank, his promoter, have agreed to terms for a May 2 bout, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN.com on Tuesday night, although Mayweather has not yet agreed to terms and it remains to be seen if he will.

"Top Rank and Manny have agreed to the terms on our side. I don't know about the other side," Moretti said.

According to a source involved in the negotiations Pacquiao has agreed to a 40 percent cut of the revenue, leaving Mayweather with the remaining 60 percent of a fight most believe will shatter every boxing box office record, including the all-time pay-per-view buy record of 2.4 million (Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya), the pay-per-view revenue record of $150 million (Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez) and the all-time gate record of $20 million (Mayweather-Alvarez).

If the fight is finalized it would take place on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Moretti said. Mayweather has had his last 10 fights there and Pacquiao has had five of his last seven bouts there.

According to the Pacquiao side, everything was agreed to, including the gloves and drug testing. As far as the gloves go, each fighter would be able to select their own brand of 8-ounce gloves. Mayweather typically wears Grant gloves and Pacquiao fights in Cleto Reyes.

The drug testing protocol was the one open item that caused the fight to fall apart when it was first negotiated in late 2009 and early 2010. Mayweather wanted Pacquiao to submit to random Olympic-style drug testing and he declined to do the kind of testing Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs), who turns 38 in February, wanted.

However, Moretti said that Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs), 36, who has subjected himself (and his opponents) to random testing by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association for his recent bouts, has gone so far as to agree to use the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which has randomly tested Mayweather (and his opponents) for years.

"I think that Manny agreed to USADA testing shows you his eagerness to make this fight," Moretti said.

Mayweather and Pacquiao have been on a collision course since late 2009. That is when Mayweather ended a nearly two-year retirement to easily outpoint Juan Manuel Marquez in September 2009 and two months later Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto in the 12th round to win a welterweight title. Everything had been agreed to but the drug testing, including a 50-50 revenue split.

There have been various attempts over the years to try to make the fight, but it has never been as close as it was in 2009 as it is now.

Back then, Mayweather and Pacquiao were both associated with HBO, even though neither was under contract. In early 2013, Mayweather signed his contract with CBS/Showtime and still has two fights remaining with guarantees of at least $32 million per fight while Pacquiao is now under contract to HBO/Time Warner. Still, the networks are not an impediment to a deal.

Both networks have said that they are willing to work together for what would be a joint pay-per-view telecast, similar to what they did for another fight that had been demanded by the public for years -- the 2002 heavyweight championship fight between then-champion Lennox Lewis, who was under contract to HBO, and Mike Tyson, who was with Showtime.