Floyd Mayweather Jr. won the much-hyped boxing match over Manny Pacquiao in what was dubbed as the "Fight of the Century" on Saturday night in Las Vegas, with Mayweather winning on a unanimous decision by the judges after mostly dominating the 12 rounds of the match.
Mayweather came into the fight as the betting favorite and Pacquiao was the fan favorite and underdog, but he was never able to get a consistent run going against Mayweather. The fight generated a record amount of money and Pay-Per-View orders and now Mayweather has the head to head matchup over his greatest peer.
Pacquiao revealed after the fight that he battled while dealing with a shoulder injury and he added that he did not want to make any excuses about the outcome of the match. According to ESPN.com, Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach considered postponing the fight a few weeks ago, but opted against it. The chairman of the Nevada Athletic Commission said that Pacquiao was denied an anti-inflammatory shot in the locker room before the match due to late notice about the injury.
"It's part of the game," Pacquiao said, according to ESPN. "I don't want to make alibis or complain or anything ... [but] it's hard to fight one-handed."
Mayweather remains undefeated in his career and the 38-year-old brought home a record check for the victory at the MGM on Saturday night. Mayweather has competed in the Olympics and he is considered to be the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Mayweather has been criticized heavily for his off the field issues, but that was pushed aside as the two prominent boxers took the ring for the first time together.
The fight has been a possibility for years and fans have been asking for the matchup for as long as the two boxers have been considered the best in the world. Things started to take a turn earlier in the year and an agreement was later reached for the two to battle in Las Vegas. Mayweather took the the welterweight world championship with a unanimous decision in the fight and he connected on more punches than Pacquiao.
The fight cost between $90 and $100 to fans around the world and that was expected to generate at least $300 million and the split gave Mayweather a majority chunk. Mayweather revealed a $100 million check after the win and he now is 48-0 for his career after taking down the 36-year-old Pacquiao. This fight has been pushed by many for years, but the starts and stops were frequent and an agreement seemingly was impossible. Now Mayweather can say he has defeated Pacquiao and he remains undefeated in his career.
Check here for more on the fight results.
"It's hard for me to envision that if we had done this fight five years ago, it would be as big as it is now," promoter Bob Arum said last month, according to the New York Times. "But that's happenstance. That is nothing that anybody should take credit for."
