It has been 10 years since what would become the most lucrative fight in boxing history became a reality. To this day, the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao still holds the record for pay-per-view purchases in the United States, with 4.6 million through HBO and Showtime. The so-called ‘Fight of the Century’ was such a success that it grossed $600 million plus PPV (90$ or 100$ in HD). Much of this went into ‘Money’s’ pocket, as he was his own promoter. In the Philippines, even activity in its parliament was suspended for a few days, as many of its members traveled to the United States to watch the fight live.
The fight took place at the classic MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and Mayweather won the fight. The American, who controlled the distance very well, defeated ‘Pac-Man’ by a clear unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112 and 118-110). Both came in as welterweight champions, Floyd at 38 years old and Manny at 36. The truth is that this fight did not happen until an undefeated ‘Pretty Boy’ wanted it to. The Filipino had three wins in a row after suffering a setback in his fourth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, who handed him a KO that has gone down in history.
If the fight had been made in 2009, when talks began, it would probably have been more interesting than what was finally seen in the MGM ring on May 2, 2015. They were undoubtedly the best pound-for-pound fighters of the moment, and it was Mayweather who started talking about Pacquiao, but when it came down to it, he did not accept that the purse should be 50/50. ‘Pac-Man’ was tied to Top Rank and Bob Arum did not give in in this regard.
The year 2010 was the year of Floyd’s accusations against Manny. He said that if his rival accepted a blood test 30 days before the fight, it would be done. Pacquiao claimed he would file a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather for accusing him of doping. He also pointed out that he could have multiple blood tests during the months leading up to this fight, but not 30 days before it, as he considered that he would be at a disadvantage. The snowball kept getting bigger and in 2012 negotiations intensified, but Marquez’s KO paralyzed everything.
In 2014, with Pacquiao as champion again, the fight was back on. It was a non-stop on social media and in January 2015 Bob Arum agreed all the terms with the ‘Money’ team. It remained for the fighters to sign the agreement and they met face to face in Miami during an NBA game of the Miami Heat. This meeting was not planned, but it revolutionized the boxing world.
Thanks to the Miss Universe pageant
Manny was in Miami as a judge for the Miss Universe pageant, which was on January 25, but his return flight was canceled due to bad weather and he decided to go to the Heat game. After that brief chat at the pavilion, they agreed to meet that night in Pac-Man’s hotel room to iron out some things and make a few calls. They talked about the drug testing that would take place before the fight, who would get into the ring last or which name would go first on the posters. Mayweather called the head of Showtime Sports to tell him that everything was agreed and that HBO and Showtime should agree come what may, and so they did.
With everything set up, sitting in the front row at the MGM cost $180,000 and luxury packages were created for the whole weekend in Las Vegas with attendance at the fight only within the reach of great fortunes. Among the most popular attendees were celebrities such as Prince, Robert De Niro or Clint Eastwood, Jay Z and Beyonce , Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bradley Cooper , Christian Bale or Ben Affleck. From the world of sports we saw, among others, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Charles Barkley, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. Even Donald Trump was there with Melania. It was the event that no one wanted to miss. It’s a shame it didn’t take place five years earlier.
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