It was a match that was devoid of the usual explosive characteristics of the hyper-publicized boxing bout.
According to the three judges, Floyd Mayweather Jr. clearly won the fight at 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112. He claimed the unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao to win the richest fight in boxing history and maintain his perfect record.
People all over the world waited for about 5 years to witness this day but all they got was a match that bears all the hallmark of caution, which easily translates to boring. Mayweather throughout the match fought like a business man and stuck to the game plan that worked perfectly for him – preventing Pacquiao from landing his trademark flurry of punches.
Mayweather, at 38, started as the brighter of the two fighters. He was caught with some odd good shot, but was quicker throughout and always looked in control.
While most of Mayweather’s opponents usually land an average of 19 percent punches on his body, Pacquiao was only able to land 15 percent.
Mayweather now remained unbeaten in 48 professional fights dating back to 1996, retains his WBC and WBA welterweight titles and takes the WBO belt from Pacquiao.
Mayweather was clearly in control in the early rounds before Filipino Pacquiao came alive in the fourth with a couple of strong left hooks to the head. But Mayweather maintained his dominance and was able to stayed out of trouble, keeping Pacquiao at arm’s length with his superior footwork.
Noisily backed by the 16,000-strong crowd, Pacquiao, 36, continued to have the odd success – landing a strong left in the eighth – but Mayweather’s speed and movement proved key, and as the fight wore on he began to have more success.
At the 11th round, the contest became almost one-sided of the as Mayweather, looking as fresh as he had in the opening round, picked off a tired-looking Pacquiao almost at will.
Mayweather avoided Pacquiao’s increasingly ragged attempts to land in the final round and comfortably won on all the judges’ scorecards.
The fight, watched by celebrities and sporting stars like Jay Z and Beyonce, P. Diddy, Mike Tyson, Robert De Niro and Denzel Washinghton, is expected to generate an estimated $400m.
The historic title bout was a 16,000 sell-out MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas – where some spectators had paid as much as $350,000 for tickets on the resale market.
