Boxing · 2015 · Las Vegas, USA
The Fight of the Century
Six years after people started demanding it, boxing's two biggest stars finally meet, in the richest fight ever staged.
Mayweather def. Pacquiao, unanimous decision
Result
~$400 million
PPV revenue (est.)
48-0
Mayweather record after
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao had been boxing's two most bankable stars through much of the 2000s, and repeated attempts to put them in a ring together collapsed year after year over contract terms and drug-testing disputes. The delay did the promotion's work for it: by the time it happened, no fight of the sport's modern era had been waited on longer.
On 2 May 2015 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, marketed heavily as the 'Fight of the Century', Mayweather used the defensive technique he had built a career on to take most of the danger out of Pacquiao's aggression, and won a comfortable unanimous decision on all three judges' scorecards. Pacquiao revealed afterwards that he had fought carrying a significant shoulder injury.
The bout generated roughly $400 million in pay-per-view revenue, still among the highest grossing fights ever staged, and most people who paid for it found the boxing a letdown after six years of build-up. Both of those things have been true of it ever since.
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