By Jake Donovan
The Event of the Century didn’t produce much of a fight, but further confirmed Floyd Mayweather’s presence as an all-time great. The unbeaten welterweight king delivered a virtuoso performance in scoring a decision over Manny Pacquiao in their long awaited pound-for-pound showdown Saturday evening at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Scores were 118-110 and 116-112 (twice) in a bout that – objectively speaking – played out as most suspected, even if fans optimistically hoped for something more.
Mayweather landed the first significant punch of the fight, a right hand that momentarily forced Pacquiao backwards. The right hand was the story of the round. Mayweather was more aggressive than in past starts, while Pacquiao struggled to find any openings, as evidenced in his landing just three punches on the round.
Pacquiao pulled the crowd into the fight after landing a straight left hand to Mayweather’s chest early in round two. Mayweather responded with body shots while the two were tied up, prompting the pro-Pacquiao crowd to boo the unbeaten superstar. A double jab and left hand caught Mayweather midway through the round, drawing chants of “Manny! Manny!” throughout the sold-out arena.
Crowd support couldn’t win their guy the fight, though. That was up to Pacquiao to take care of in the ring. Mayweather disallowed in round three, rediscovering success with right hands, but Pacquiao found his groove in round four, his best of the night to that point.
Right hooks found their way through Mayweather’s tight guard, with a left hand driving him to the ropes. Pacquiao went for broke, although not much was landing. Another left hand scored late for the Filipino southpaw, as Mayweather was on the defensive for nearly the entire frame.
Round five saw referee Kenny Bayless finally respond to Mayweather’s frequent clinch, verbally warning the pound-for-pound and box-office king while the two fighters were at center ring. Another warning was issued to Mayweather in round six for hitting on the break, but the frame was best remembered for Pacquiao scoring at close range with left hands and right hooks.
The first half was way too close for Mayweather’s trainer and father, Floyd Mayweather Sr. who issued his son a savage tongue-lashing in between rounds. It was probably the hardest hitting action of the night, but it forced the unbeaten boxer to pick up the pace in the second half.
“My Dad wanted me to do more,” acknowledged Mayweather (48-0, 26KOs). “Manny Pacquiao is an awkward competitor and I had to take my time.”
Mayweather came out aggressive to start round seven, scoring right hands and even knocking Pacquiao slightly off balance at one point. Another warning came from Bayless for holding, and later in the fight for using his elbows. None were to the point of warranting a deduction more so than the third man enforcing the rules.
No more warnings were necessary as Mayweather created separation between the two, both in the ring and on the scorecards. Pacquiao grew increasingly frustrated and sloppy in his offensive attack, often catching air as Mayweather turned to his defensive wizardry as the finish line neared.
Needing to let his hands go and produce a dramatic ending, Pacquiao instead spent the final three minutes following Floyd around the ring. Nothing of substance landed in the round, and if anything confirmed the inevitable.
At least to everyone but Pacquiao.
“I thought I won the fight. He did nothing,” Pacquiao deadpanned to HBO’s Max Kellerman at the end of the night. “I was catching him with counter and saying ‘let’s fight.’”
Pacquiao is very, very alone in that belief, as the official 12-round loss puts his record at 57-6-2 (38KOs). The defeat snaps a three-fight win streak that included a revenge-fueled decision win over Timothy Bradley Jr. last April to regain his welterweight belt he lost in their disputed June ’12 loss.
Both fights with Bradley took place at this very venue, as did his shocking 6th round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in Dec. ’12. Following the Marquez bout, Pacquiao has rotated back and forth between Vegas and Macau, fighting twice in China including his previous win, a 12-round shutout of Chris Algieri last November.
The bout came exactly 52 weeks following his comeback win over Brandon Rios in his first fight following the loss to Marquez. Both fights in Macau took place versus fighters moving up in weight, as he has all but run out of welterweights to face as long as he remains limited to Top Rank’s stable and other relevant fighters permitted to fight on HBO.
So what does his future hold?
“We will be taking a vacation and thinking about the (future),” Pacquiao noted, remaining noncommittal to his next fight.
Mayweather, on the other hand, was far more definitive about his future – one he insists will only last another four months in the sport and going out on top.
“I have one more fight with Showtime and CBS. My last fight is in September. Then it’s time for me to hang it up,” promised Mayweather, who made the fifth defense of his second tour as World lineal welterweight championship.
Showtime’s Jim Grey grilled Mayweather on whether the money earned tonight (a record-breaking guaranteed purse of $120 million, which can expand to $200 million once the receipts are tallied) will deter him from returning to the gym and maintaining his present schedule. The best fighter of this generation insisted he won’t have any problems getting out bed in the morning to do roadwork.
“I’m fighting in September, yes,” Mayweather confirmed, as he did his stance as an all-time great with the 12 rounds of boxing that preceded his 48th win without a loss.
The bout topped a Pay-Per-View event that was presented in a joint production between Showtime and HBO.
On the televised undercard: Vasyl Lomachenko (4-1, 2KOs) knocked out Gamalier Rodriguez in nine rounds; and Leo Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17KOs) pitched a 10-round shutout over Jose Cayetano in his featherweight debut.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
