Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight: `Fight of the Century’

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, billed as the Fight of the Century, is an upcoming boxing match between eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and undefeated, five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Despite predictions that Mayweather–Pacquiao would be the highest grossing fight in history as early as 2009, disagreements between the two boxers’ camps on terms for the fight prevented the bout from coming to fruition until 2015. The failure to make the Mayweather–Pacquiao fight was named The Ring magazine Event of the Year for 2010. However, negotiations for the superfight in 2015 have since been finalized, with all of the major issues that have prevented the fight from happening in the past now resolved, including purse split, drug testing, and location of the bout. On February 20, 2015, Mayweather confirmed on social media that the fight had indeed been signed by himself as Pacquiao already had signed the contract of the fight previously and the contract itself was with Mayweather on that day. The contest was agreed to be held on May 2, 2015.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is, as of February 2015, 38 years old, still undefeated, with a perfect professional record of 47 wins and 0 losses (although Mayweather lost the Olympic games of 1996). On June 6, 2008, six months after defeating Ricky Hatton by a tenth-round TKO, Mayweather announced his retirement from boxing. At the time, plans were in motion for a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya, which was going to take place September 20, 2008. “This decision was not an easy one for me to make as boxing is all I have done since I was a child,” Mayweather said. “However, these past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue in the sport.” At the time, 31-year-old Mayweather registered 39 wins and no losses in his historic career. At the time of his retirement, The Ring magazine had Mayweather ranked as the number 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, with Manny Pacquiao at number 2.

During Mayweather’s brief retirement, Pacquiao earned superstar status in much of the western world with his eighth-round TKO victory over Óscar de la Hoya, for which he moved up from lightweight to welterweight (135 pounds to 147 pounds).

On May 2, 2009, the day of Pacquiao’s fight against Ricky Hatton, Mayweather announced that he was coming out of retirement and would fight Juan Manuel Márquez, The Ring lightweight champion and number 2 pound-for-pound fighter, on July 18, 2009, in a welterweight non-title fight. Marquez had previously fought Pacquiao in two controversial outings: they fought to a twelve-round draw on May 8, 2004, and Pacquiao was awarded a twelve-round split decision win on March 15, 2008. Mayweather played down Pacquiao’s newfound stardom at his press conference, stating: “If he wins tonight, don’t be all shocked … Cause guess what? I beat (Hatton) when he was undefeated. Pacquiao beat Oscar, it don’t matter. Going down to 147 pounds was too much for (De La Hoya), he was dead after the first round. I also think that Marquez beat him twice. When you talk boxing, you talk Floyd Mayweather.” Pacquiao would go on to defeat Hatton by a second-round knockout to win The Ring junior welterweight title. The win made him the second boxer in history to win titles in six weight divisions, the first being Oscar De La Hoya.

Mayweather vs. Marquez was postponed until September 19, 2009, due to a rib injury suffered by Mayweather. Despite being out of the ring for 21 months, Mayweather looked as sharp as ever and dominated the fight, winning by a lopsided twelve-round unanimous decision. After the bout, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe stated that a fight with Pacquiao was the “next obvious choice from a marketing standpoint.”

On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao stopped Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto in twelve rounds to win the WBO welterweight title. Pacquiao’s victory sparked a media frenzy and fans were quick to subsequently demand a fight between the two of them, despite the fact that the actual fight itself had not officially been made yet.

On December 5, 2009, ESPN reported that Pacquiao signed a contract to fight Mayweather on March 13, 2010. Shortly afterward, Pacquiao denied ever signing a contract to fight Mayweather, telling FanHouse, “There are still some things that need to be negotiated.”

According to Yahoo! Sports, an eight-page contract was sent on December 11 by Golden Boy Promotions on behalf of Mayweather to Top Rank, representing Pacquiao, that proposed a 50-50 financial split between the sides for a fight to take place on March 13, 2010.

After the failed negotiations, both boxers moved on to other fights. On March 13, 2010, Pacquiao defeated Joshua Clottey via unanimous decision, and on May 1, 2010, Mayweather beat Shane Mosley by a unanimous decision.

On July 13, 2010, Arum issued a July 16 midnight deadline for Mayweather. As soon as the deadline for Mayweather’s response expired, Arum held a conference call.

On September 2, 2010, Mayweather unleashed a profanityfilled racist internet rant against Pacquiao via Ustream. He was misquoted as referring to Pacquiao as “a yellow chump” but he actually called him a “little young chump” and said, “Once I stomp the midget, I’ll make that queer make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice.” In addition, he said, “I’m going to cook that [expletive] with cats and dogs. Have some rice with a little barbecue dog.”

The following day Mayweather apologized. “I want to apologize to everybody. They felt it was a racist comment that came from me. I don’t have a racist bone in my body, you know. I love everybody,” Mayweather said. “I was just having fun. I didn’t really mean it, nothing in a bad way.”

The Telegraph reported on December 20, 2013, that Mayweather said Pacquiao’s association with promoter Bob Arum is the reason why the bout will not happen. “We all know the Pacquiao fight, at this particular time, will never happen, and the reason why the fight won’t happen is because I will never do business with Bob Arum again in life, and Pacquiao is Bob Arum’s fighter,” Mayweather said.

On December 12, 2014, Mayweather proposed a May 2, 2015 fight with Pacquiao, citing his indirect frustration at not being able to make the fight happen in the past by stating that Pacquiao had lost to both Marquez and Bradley, and that he (Pacquiao) was “not on his level”. He then went on to close his comments with, “Let’s make this fight happen for the people and for the fans. Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao. May 2nd”.

On January 13, 2015, Pacquiao agreed to terms for the fight. Bob Arum claimed that now only Mayweather’s camp was holding up an official agreement.

On January 27, 2015, Mayweather and Pacquiao finally met each other face to face for the first time during an NBA game between the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks in Miami. Pacquiao said they exchanged phone numbers and would communicate with each other. Pacquiao’s advisor, Michael Koncz, said that the two future Hall of Famers later met at Pacquiao’s hotel for about an hour to discuss the pending superfight and work out the remaining issues. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum expressed optimism that the fight could be finalized by Super Bowl Sunday at the soonest and that there would be no further deadlines for the fight, stating that the negotiations are nearly complete.

On January 30, 2015, TMZ reported that the fight had been agreed upon by both sides and that a formal announcement would be made in the “next couple of days.” However, members from both sides, including Bob Arum and Stephen Espinoza, refuted the report, saying that the deal had not been finalized yet and that negotiations on what would be a joint payper- view (Showtime-HBO) telecast of the fight were still clearing out the last significant issues before the deal could be finalized.

On February 20, 2015, Mayweather announced that the fight was official and had finally been signed to take place on May 2, 2015. Mayweather and Pacquiao will face off at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight is expected to shatter PPV buy records and gross millions of dollars with the ticket prices ranging from $3,500 to $250,000 and the PPV is expected to cost US$89.95 for SD and US$99.95 for HD. Boxing experts say this match could be the richest fight in boxing history and could generate $300 million.

The fight will be held under the following contracted terms of agreement:

Mayweather will receive the lion’s share of a 60-40 money split in a fight that could gross up to $400 million. His name will be first—”Mayweather-Pacquiao”— on the fight bill. He will walk to the ring second and be introduced second. Mayweather will also have his choice of ring corner and locker room in the arena.

The fight will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both fighters will wear 8 oz. gloves with brands of their choosing. Mayweather will wear Grant gloves (colors yet to be confirmed), and Pacquiao will wear red Cleto Reyes gloves. This is a very critical detail for both fighters due to past controversies over glove choice.

The fight will take place at the Welterweight limit of 147 lbs. (66.7 kg.) Both fighters have agreed to undergo United States Anti- Doping Agency (USADA) Olympic-style drug testing. This drug-testing program consists of both random blood and urine testing, with the fighters agreeing to let their whereabouts be known at all times during training so that random pre-fight testing can be administered.

Both fighters will also be tested directly after the fight. Neither fighter has failed a drug test during his professional career. If either fighter tests positive for the use of PEDs, that fighter will be banned from the sport of boxing for a minimum of four years.

HBO and Showtime will not be holding their usual promotional shows. Instead of 24/7 and All-Access, each company has its own plans to highlight their respective fighter leading up to May 2. Showtime has announced that it will air a four-part documentary, titled “Inside Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.” Showtime will highlight all of Mayweather’s preparations in training camp leading up to the fight, as well as provide an epilogue one week after the fight. The dates of programming for this series are April 18, April 25, April 29, and May 9.

HBO has announced its pre-fight programming titled “Mayweather/Pacquiao: At Last.” This series’ main focus will be on how the fight became reality after six years in the making, as well as to highlight all of Pacquiao’s fight preparations. The main show will be broadcast on April 18, and it will be followed by a second halfhour special on April 26. In addition to the programming, HBO will also show previous Pacquiao fights starting on the weekend of April 17.

For viewers in the UK, there is a bid for the “Fight of the Century,” and at the moment the final confirmation of which broadcaster is going to be broadcasting this fight has not been confirmed. The broadcasters biding for the fight are SkySports and BoxNation Lead Promotions.

Mayweather Promotions will be the lead promoter over Top Rank Promotions. Mayweather will have the final say in event planning, from the press conferences to the in-arena entertainment.

Showtime and HBO will hold a joint pay-per-view, with Showtime in charge of production.[ 38] Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao Live Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao Live The ringside announcers for the fight will include Roy Jones, Jr. (HBO), Al Bernstein (Showtime), and Jim Lampley (HBO) providing analysis. Max Kellerman (HBO) and Jim Gray (Showtime) will cover the locker rooms of Pacquiao and Mayweather, respectively. James Brown and Paulie Malignaggi of Showtime will host the pre-fight show.

In the Philippines, Solar Entertainment – the proprietor of broadcasts of Manny Pacquiao’s bouts since 2003 – announced an unprecedented deal to simultaneously air the bout on the free-to-air terrestrial television networks GMA Network, ABS-CBN and, TV5, as well as on its own cable platforms.##