Floyd Mayweather won a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao in the most lucrative bout in boxing history to remain undefeated at 48-0 and lay claim to being the best pound-for-pound fighter of his generation.
The welterweight fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas was expected to draw more than $300 million in revenue, largely from pay-per-view purchases and ticket sales. The fight benefited from almost six years of buildup, as the two camps bickered over drug testing and revenue splits.
With the win, Mayweather, 38, unifies the welterweight titles. He entered the fight with two welterweight belts, while Pacquiao held one. Pacquiao, 36, fell to 57-6-2 with the loss.
Nicknamed ?Money,? Mayweather was the world?s highest-paid athlete last year, joining Tiger Woods as the second jock to make more than $100 million in one year. With his cut of the record-setting purse, Mayweather topped $500 million in career earnings. The fighters will share about 60 percent to 70 percent of the estimated $250 million in pay-per-view purchases — with Mayweather getting about 60 percent of that — and the rest going to the networks and carriers holding broadcast rights.
Mayweather and Pacquiao also will share about $72 million in gate, an estimated $11 million in sponsorships and at least $35 million in international television rights.
More than half of Mayweather?s victories — 25 of 48 — have now come in title fights and he?s won world championship belts in five weight classes.
Outside the ring, he?s been accused of assaulting five different women and served two months in jail in 2012. His past is in stark contrast to that of Pacquiao, a congressman and military reservist in his native Philippines who has held titles in eight weight classes. TV Draw
Mayweather has proven his ability to draw TV viewers, with his 2007 fight against Oscar De La Hoya pulling in a record 2.48 million pay-per-view purchases. Former HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg said this fight will top that.
When the fight was originally proposed in 2009, Mayweather and Pacquiao were ranked by Ring Magazine as the top two pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Camps for the two fighters bumped heads for years, according to Mayweather, before finally agreeing to the title bout in January following a brief meeting during a National Basketball Association game in Miami.
Since the fight was originally discussed, Pacquiao has lost twice — against Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 — while Mayweather began to show his age even though he remained unbeaten. Six of Mayweather?s previous seven fights dating back to 2009 went the full 12 rounds, and he had the first two majority decisions of his career.
Tickets to the fight reached record levels because of high demand and limited availability. The arena seats 16,800 and the less than 1,000 tickets made available to the public sold out in 60 seconds. The average resale price topped $6,000.
