After years of speculation and uncertainty, the bout that essentially every boxing fan wants to see is finally coming to fruition.
Floyd Mayweather used his Shots account to make the announcement on Friday, Feb. 20:
Shots
Bleacher Report provided the tale of the tape via Instagram:
Bryan Armen Graham of the Guardian had statements from executives at HBO and Showtime concerning this massive joint Pay-Per-View:
Pacquiao also released a statement via Martin Rogers and Bob Velinof USA Today:
"This is the right fight for boxing," Pacquiao said in a statement. "Floyd Mayweather and I is the fight boxing fans have wanted for years and I am looking forward to it. I will be representing my fans and my country and trying to bring glory to the Philippines."
Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times added more from Pacquiao's side on the fight:
Pacquiao also took to Instagram to show off the contract and add another quote:
Dan Rafael of ESPN added that there's no rematch clause, each fighter will wear their usual gloves for a 60-40 split.
Martin Rogers of USA Today reported that the MGM Grand sold out in roughly 15 minutes following the announcement of the fight. Much of that excitement is because Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are perhaps the greatest and most accomplished boxers of their generation. In fact, the only thing that neither fighter has done to this point is meet each other in the ring.
Much to the excitement and relief of boxing fans everywhere, that is about to change.
There is no question that the sport of boxing has taken a backseat to other genres such as mixed martial arts in recent years. Boxing desperately needs a catalyst to turn the tide back in its favor, and Mayweather vs. Pacquiao could be precisely that.
Talk regarding the dream bout has heated up in recent months, and excitement reached a fever pitch on Jan. 13 when Top Rank founder Bob Arum told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports that the two sides had agreed to everything needed to make the fight a reality.
I'm not trying to force anybody's hand, I'm just saying, 'Hey, we've agreed to everything, period.' The people we have talked to on Mayweather's side have agreed to everything. Now we need Mayweather to step up and say, 'Yeah, I'm on board. I agree.'
(...) I think Manny has been very reasonable and demonstrated that he wants the fight to happen. Now, we're waiting on Floyd. That's not to say that Floyd has been obstinate, that Floyd won't do it, but we're waiting on him.
According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, one of the biggest hurdles that needed to be cleared was a decision on the pay-per-view front:
The Mayweather and Pacquiao camps ultimately reached an understanding, which means boxing fans will get the event they have longed for.
The undefeated "Money" Mayweather is approaching the end of his boxing career at 37 years of age. Per ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, he made it clear that he wanted to retire when his Showtime contract expires in September 2015.
"I only got two more fights left and after the next two fights I just want to build the Mayweather Promotions brand," Mayweather said. "...My next fight is in May (2015) and my last fight is in September (2015), so a year from now will be my last fight."
In the wake of that announcement, many figured that the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao dream was over. That wasn't helped by the notion that Mayweather had been ducking Pac-Man for many years.
While Mayweather has never been one to keep his thoughts to himself, much of the chatter regarding a potential Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight came from Pac-Man's camp. That included Pacquiao himself, who continued to push for a Mayweather fight leading up to his Nov. 22 meeting with Chris Algieri, according to Rafael.
"I do have one specific goal and that is to give the boxing fans the fight they have always asked for," Pacquiao said. "I want that fight (with Mayweather) too."
Even Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, made his presence felt in the media and doubted Mayweather's intentions of ever going face to face with Pac-Man, per Jeff Powell of Daily Mail:
It looked close two years ago but I don't think Floyd will take the chance now. Floyd's main concern has become keeping that 0 (for zero losses) on his record. I don't see him taking any real risk of losing that before the end of next year, when he says he's retiring. It's not that he's afraid of Manny. No fighters are scared of anybody in the world. It's just that he believes if he goes out undefeated he will be seen as better than greats like "Sugar" Ray Robinson, who had losses on their records.
While most of the talk regarding the superfight was negative, Arum breathed some new life into the proceedings in November when he revealed that there seemed to be some movement on that front, according to GMANetwork.com.
"The networks are now already talking," he said. "I am now more optimistic that the fight is going to happen than I was three or four years ago. I am talking to responsible people who are in touch with the Mayweather guys. All of these people have the ability to move it ahead and make it happen."
As encouraging as that was, Mayweather took the next step in December when he made it clear in an interview on Showtime that he wanted to make a fight with Pacquiao a reality, per Rafael.
"We are ready. Let's make it happen. May 2. Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao. Let's do it," Mayweather said.
Money also accused Pac-Man and his camp of running from the fight and claimed that Pacquiao was desperate after a pair of defeats, according to Rafael.
So let's make this fight happen. Manny Pacquiao, Bob Arum, you guys have been ducking us for years. We're tired of you guys fooling the public, fooling the critics. You guys didn't want to take random blood and urine testing, so that's why it didn't happen. Then I offered you $40 million, then you didn't want to make the fight happen. You lost twice, now you coming back begging for the same money. That's not gonna happen. Let's make the fight happen for the people and the fans. Mayweather versus Pacquiao, May 2, Cinco de Mayweather.
That certainly wasn't the first time that Mayweather and Pacquiao sparred verbally across media lines, but the end result was much different in this instance.
With both sides seemingly wanting to make the fight happen, Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reported on Jan. 9 that Mayweather and Pacquiao had agreed to terms on both a venue and drug testing. That proved to be an important step in the right direction.
When push came to shove, Mayweather, Pacquiao and everyone else involved were smart enough to realize that making the fight happen was beneficial to them, boxing fans and the sport as a whole.
While it's possible that their fight won't be as great as it could have been several years ago, none of that matters now. The long wait and anticipation has made their upcoming bout even bigger.
Each fighter needed this to put a bow on his career, and fans needed this to fall in love with boxing all over again.
Source: espn, gma
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