By Radio Rahim
When the final bell was rung on May 2nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum was entering the ring as a very happy man, because he believed Manny Pacquiao had banked enough rounds to win a close decision over Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The judges felt otherwise, with scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 for Mayweather, who unified the WBO/WBC/WBA welterweight titles in victory.
While many fans were disappointed with the contest, Arum felt it was a good fight. The pay-per-view generated a record bashing 4.4 million purchases, and $500 million in revenue is expected for the fight.
Arum cautions that fans who were expecting Mayweather to stand and trade punches with Pacquiao were under the wrong impression.
"I thought it was a very interesting fight. It was an extraordinarily close fight. I know two of the judges had it 8 to 4. I had it much, much closer. How the judges didn't give Pacquiao the second round I don't understand. Mayweather did nothing in the second round and Pacquiao threw a lot of punches. And also I thought he won the twelfth round. You add those two rounds and it's a draw," Arum told BoxingScene.com.
"When I went into the ring, I thought Pacquiao eked out a victory. I thought it was a very interesting fight. Mayweather's style is not going to change. Mayweather has a very effective style and he utilized that style."