On may 2nd 2015, one of the biggest sporting events happened at the MGM Grand Garden Arena casino in Las Vegas U.S.A. This event was a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. The match was for the WBO-welterweight title of the world. Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather won the match on points as awarded by the judges. He won the fight 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 according to the three judges that night. This was his 48th straight win in his perfect 19 year boxing career. His challenger, Manny Pacquiao from the Phillipines is also an accomplished boxer but on this night he could not beat Mayweather. Later on after the fight, Manny released a statement that he lost due to his injured shoulder.
Paquiao was the Red corner, Mayweather was the Blue corner, official judges appeared to have given the points to Paquiao yet result was a reverse, look what is hand written in the bottom of the score card on the right?
Most lucrative match in boxing history
The Mayweather vs Manny fight raked in big bucks for the organizers. It had a total revenue of $400 million. Moreover, the two fighters will split $230 million dollars between themselves. Advertised as the ‘Fight of the Century’, this boxing match had some of the most expensive tickets in history. They cost $350,000 per ticket for the ringside seats. In America, the television viewers were charged $100 to watch the match on television. This match also brought together two rival sports broadcasters. These are Showtime and HBO. They collaborated to show the match and worked together for the very first time since the year 2002 when Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson fought. There were many Hollywood A-list celebrities at the MGM Grand watching the match. Examples of these are Clint Eastwood, Robert-de-Niro, Sting, Prince and businessman Donald Trump. Entertainer Jamie-Foxx sang the American national-anthem before the fight begun.
Strategy and Controversy
The fight went on for 11 rounds. As the two fighters got into the ring for the first round, it was very obvious that Mayweather was physically the bigger man. In the opening round, both fighters were cautious. However, Money Mayweather landed a few right jabs while countering Manny’s attacks. Whenever Manny came in, Floyd was quick to tie-him-up and frustrate him. This strategy worked for Mayweather since he planned to tire Manny Pacquiao and beat him in the later rounds of the match. Manny landed a number of punches that stunned Floyd from the fourth to the sixth round. However, from the seventh round Floyd Mayweather punished Manny with left jabs and footwork that left the Phillipino boxer helpless. By the 11th round, it was obvious that Money Mayweather had clinched a victory on points and cemented his position as the greatest-boxer of his own generation. The Pacquiao vs Mayweather scoring was very controversial since the fans could not agree who had more points. However, Mayweather’s strategy worked. He has another match slated for
