Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao met in a long-anticipated superfight on May 2, 2015.
Mayweather cemented his status as the consensus pound-for-pound No. 1 in boxing when he beat Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in 2007.
‘Money’ announced a shock retirement in the aftermath of his 10th-round TKO victory over British hero Hatton and, in his absence, the weight-surfing Pacquiao became boxing’s standout attraction.
He beat both De La Hoya and Hatton in more emphatic fashion, with the latter victory landing him a world title in a sixth weight division. Shortly after Mayweather returned to the sport in late 2009, Pacquiao made that seven with a spectacular performance to dethrone WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto.
That was in December 2009, meaning a torturous and, frankly, unforgivable wait for the two best fighters in the sport operating in the same weight class to finally get in the ring.
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What happened when Mayweather fought Pacquiao?
Floyd Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision over 12 rounds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Judges Burt Clements and Glenn Feldman scored the bout 116-112 in Mayweather’s favour, while Dave Moretti had it wider at 118-110, meaning he awarded Pacquiao just two rounds.
Mayweather masterfully controlled the majority of the action. Aged 38 and 36 respectively, both fighters were past their imperious peaks, but the elder Mayweather had fewer miles on the clock as Pacquiao struggled to get off his trademark, blurring multi-punch combinations.
While Floyd came into the fight with his unblemished 47-0 record intact, Pacquiao had experienced a turbulent few years.
In November 2011, Pacquiao faced his great rival Juan Manuel Marquez, who Mayweather tellingly selected as his comeback opponent and breezed to a landslide win after brazenly ignoring the contracted 144-pound catchweight.
Up at welterweight, many assumed Marquez would struggle in comparison to his devilishly close contests with Pacquiao at featherweight and super featherweight, but the Mexican boxed masterfully and the majority decision in Pacquiao’s favour was widely viewed to be horrible.
Judging ignominy struck once again when Pacquiao lost his title to Tim Bradley despite appearing to have done more than enough in their June 2012 clash. Marquez then chillingly took the judges out of the equation when he uncorked a right hand from hell to KO Pacquiao in their fourth fight that December.
Mayweather could then justifiably claim he didn’t need Pacquiao anymore. A return victory over Brandon Rios, a successful revenge mission against Bradley and a one-sided beatdown of Chris Algieri returned Pacquiao to world champion status. But Mayweather always felt like a different prospect entirely, and so it proved.
What happened after Mayweather vs. Pacquiao
At the post-fight press conference, Pacquiao revealed he had suffered a shoulder injury and surgery on a torn rotator cuff meant almost a year out of action.
In that time, Mayweather was able to complete his exit strategy with nothing left to prove. An underwhelming matchup with Andre Berto moved him to 49-0, level with Rocky Marciano’s iconic mark in September 2015.
With that, Mayweather retired, only to bring up 50 in August 2017 with a controversial crossover contest against Conor McGregor. The UFC superstar was completely overmatched under the Queensberry Rules, as expected, with Mayweather having to bat away accusations that he “carried” McGregor before stopping him in the 10th. But it the noise and vast fortunes accrued by both men that set a template that Jake Paul has successfully run with.
In the period between Mayweather’s wins over Berto and McGregor, Pacquiao returned from injury, beat Bradley in a 2016 rubber match, retired and came back before the end of the year to beat Jessie Vargas and win the WBO welterweight title for a third time.
A shock defeat away from home against Australian Jeff Horn offered further evidence of a fighter in decline, although a first stoppage in nine years against Lucas Matthysse and commanding victories against Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman demonstrated life in the late autumn of Pacquiao’s career.
The unanimous decision win over the previously undefeated Thurman earned Pacquiao the WBA welterweight title, a belt he vacated as he spent 2020 out of the ring. He was set to return to challenge Errol Spence for the IBF and WBC belts in August 2021, only for the champion to withdraw 11 days before the bout with an eye injury. Yordenis Ugas, who was scheduled to defend Pacquiao’s old WBA belt on the undercard, stepped up to the main event.
A deserved unanimous decision win for the Cuban persuaded Pacquiao to hang up his gloves, aged 42 and eight months.
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Will Mayweather and Pacquiao fight again?
Both men have competed on the exhibition circuit over recent years, but Pacquiao has stunningly stepped back into world championship boxing.
On Saturday, July 19, he will challenge Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title. If Pacquiao, a wide betting underdog, is successful, he will be the second-oldest world champion in boxing history behind the great Bernard Hopkins.
Somewhat inevitably, Mayweather became part of the fight week conversation. Amid speculation that Las Vegas resident Floyd would be ringside to watch his old foe in action, boxing journalist Lance Pugmire reported Mayweather had been in touch with Team Pacquiao over a rematch should he dethrone Barrios.
Speaking the Ariel Helwani Show, Pacquiao insisted he was focused only on his next opponent, but playfully declined to dismiss the speculation.
“He’s been ducking me,” he grinned. “I don’t want an exhibition. I want a real fight. It’s been a long time that I want to give the fans a good fight between me and him, but, you know, he’s been avoiding me.”
A rematch of the biggest matchup of the 21st century, a decade after it happened, half a decade too late? Only in boxing.
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