LOS ANGELES – Befitting the unprecedented nature of this mega-fight, a bout that is expected to be the richest in boxing history, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao were given the royal treatment Wednesday at a gala press conference at Nokia Theatre at LA Live.
A glitzy, Hollywood-style red carpet—comparable to that of Hollywood’s biggest award shows—was rolled out to welcome the fighters and afford access to more than 700 credentialed media members from around the world. Among the formidable press core were dozens of television and radio crews and literally hundreds of newspaper columnists, boxing writers, and news, entertainment and sports reporters. Even the Goodyear Blimp flew above to mark the occasion as the top-two fighters of this generation, Mayweather and Pacquiao, went face-to-face for the first time prior to their epic welterweight world championship unification bout Saturday, May 2, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank Inc., the pay-per-view telecast will be co-produced and co-distributed by SHOWTIME PPV® and HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/ 6:00 p.m. PT.
Both Mayweather and his former promoter, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum (who promotes Pacquiao), claim their bad blood is now more. Mayweather started his career with Top Rank and was promoted by them until 2006 when he became a free agent. Since 2007, Golden Boy Promotions had co-promoted almost every one of Mayweather's fights. The fight with Pacquiao will be Mayweather's first without Golden Boy as co-promoter since they first started doing business together.
Floyd Mayweather - “There was no resentment towards Bob Arum, I was just happy to become my own boss after years of working hard and dedicating myself to boxing and also learning the business side of it. With time, I eventually had to become my own boss. There are no hard feelings towards Bob Arum at all.
“I have had an unbelievable career. It all started with my father. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be where I am today. When you put all the pieces to the puzzle together, I just feel like I’m the center piece. Every day when I think about my career I don’t regret anything. We will go down in history as some of the best fighters, the fighting Mayweathers.
Bob Arum - “[The negotiations] started when Les Moonves [chairman of CBS] came to my house. He visited me on a couple of occasions to tell me that he wanted to make this fight happen. He wanted me to go to Manny [Pacquiao] and discuss with him the purse that would be acceptable. We had frequent dialogue. I felt confident that it was going to happen because Moonves would do whatever he could to make this happen.
“I have no animosity with Floyd Mayweather. Floyd has always remained a good friend; I have nothing whatsoever bad to say about Floyd as a person. I love Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach. When Manny wins on May 2, which I’m sure he will, I will have a great deal of satisfaction for the both of them. They will have done the work to make it happen."
