(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp, Mayweather Promotions)
The history books are now written folks, and it has the worlds favorite bad boy still unbeaten as Floyd Mayweather bested Manny Pacquiao via unanimous decision last Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Using his reach, jab and defensive abilities, Mayweather won a decision that solidified his place in boxing history. The question of who would win a match up between the two top billed fighters on the planet has finally been answered with lucrative implications for Mayweather.
Floyd walks away with a reported $180 million dollars, the richest payday ever in boxing. Still the fight wouldnt be a classic Mayweather fight without some controversy.
Fans who doled out the $100 for the HD PPV feed, provided jointly by HBO and Showtime, complained about a lack of action during the bout. Those who spent upwards of $150,000 to witness the fight of the century live on the floor felt cheated by what has been described as Mayweather running away from Pacquiao.
What is interesting is that Maywether shifted his usual counter-only strategy to actually push the pace and act as the aggressor. When he was trapped in the corner, susceptible to the barrage of punches in bunches Pacquaio threw, he avoided the majority of the damage and either worked his way out or grabbed Pacquiao until they were broken up by referee Kenny Bayless.
Two ringside judges scored the fight 116-112, while the third had it 118-110.
“I take my hat off to Manny Pacquiao. I see now why he is at the pinnacle of boxing,” Mayweather said. “I knew he was going to push me, win some rounds. I wasn’t being hit with a lot of shots until I sit in a pocket and he landed a lot of shots.”
Pacquiao, a southpaw, didn’t throw his right hand often and seemed frustrated and cautious through he entire 12-round affair. Promoter Bob Arum said Pacquiao injured his shoulder sometime after March 11 according to the Associated Press.
Arum said Pacquiao’s camp thought he would be allowed the anti-inflammatory shot because he had gotten them during training and they had been approved by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. But he said paperwork filed with the commission didn’t check the injury box, and the Nevada commission ruled against the request for a shot.
“The ruling made tonight affected the outcome of the fight,” Arum said.
Nevada Athletic Commission chairman Francisco Aguilar said Pacquiao’s camp wanted shots that included lidocaine, a drug that numbs the affected area. But he said Pacquiao’s representatives didn’t check the injury box after the weigh-in Friday, and the commission had no way of knowing how serious the injury was or what it could be treated with.
“I have no proof an injury actually exists and I can’t make a ruling based on what they’re telling me,” Aguilar said.
Still, Pacquiao thought he had won the bout, largely on the basis of a few left hands that seemed to shake Mayweather.
“I thought I won the fight. He didn’t do nothing except move outside,” Pacquiao said. “I got him many times.”
Mayweather advances to 48-0 with one fight remaining on his Showtime Sports contract, which he plans to honor in September.
