Floyd Mayweather Defeats Manny Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather used his four-inch reach advantage to score quick points with jabs, and his defensive shoulder roll to avoid getting hurt on the inside, Mayweather outpointed Manny Pacquiao in a 12 round decision for the World Welterweight Championship tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Mayweather, 38 years old, remains perfect–48-0 with 26 KOs. The 36 year old Pacquiao fell to 57-6-2 with 38 KOs.

On their short walks to the ring Pacquiao was smiling and relaxed, like he was headed to a party; Mayweather tightlipped and serious, the look of someone going to the biggest business meeting of his life.

It wasn't close to being as exciting a fight as either the first or third bouts in the Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier trilogy in the 1970s.

Tonight’s battle was more of a chess match than a brawl and unlike the first Ali-Frazier fight (the original Fight of the Century when both combatants were undefeated) there were no knockdowns.

Waiting for decision... Announcers unanimously think it will go to Mayweather. 

Pacquiao was by far the aggressor, but Mayweather landed many more punches.



Judges agree and all three give it big to Mayweather.

But both fighters won at the bank. The money for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight eclipses any other. 

Ticket revenue at the MGM Grand Garden Arena will yield $74 million in gate receipts, and the foreign rights to the fight sold for a record $35 million. The fight’s total gross is expected to be over $300 million and could hit $400 million depending on the pay-per-view numbers.

The thinking in the days before the fight was that a record 3 million PPV buys for between $90 and $100 a pop. 

But while waiting for the fight to start announcer Jim Lampley said there was a delay because cable companies said so many people were buying the fight there was “an electric overload” that needed to be dealt with.

Mayweather, who negotiated a 60%-40% split in his favor, should make at least $180 million while Pacquiao earns $120 million. In addition, Mayweather also bet $750,000 of his own loot on himself.

In contrast, Ali and Frazier split $5 million in the original Fight of the Century in 1971, which would be $29 million adjusted for inflation.

As an industry, boxing is not as popular relative to other sports as it was 40 years ago. But people will still pay up when in comes to superstars like Pacquiao and Mayweather. 

And thanks to a modern trend started by former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya to promote his own fights, boxers haul in a bigger percentage of the gross. 

Mayweather is the De La Hoya business model on steroids But make no mistake about it: this fight was an anomaly.

I would have loved to have seen this fight five or six years ago when both were near their prime. That fight might not have made as much money. But it could have been the real Fight of the Century.

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