LAS VEGAS — For five years, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. walked and talked indefinite circles around each other. It seemed they would never collide. The two best boxers of their generation were like planets around a sun, with a fight in the middle of their orbits.
If the buildup seemed endless, the final moment didn’t. When they stepped into a ring together Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, their crossing was bound to be short-lived. Neither fighter asked for a rematch clause in their contracts.
The bout briefly appeared it could reach an early end, but it eventually went the distance. Mayweather remained undefeated using his masterful defense to unify the welterweight championship in a 12-round unanimous decision over Pacquiao, 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112.
Mayweather landed 148-of-435 punches; Pacquiao connected on just 81-of-429.
In the fourth round, Pacquiao (57-6-2) nearly spun the fight into an early end. He landed an overhand left that stunned Mayweather (48-0), who went into a shell against the ropes. Pacquiao unleashed speedy punches that Mayweather ate with no response. It was the best round any boxer fought against Mayweather in his 48 fights.
Until the sixth, when Pacquiao did it again. He froze Mayweather with a hard left, then hit his midsection in a hurry. But Mayweather shook his head and said no.
“He had moments in the fight,” Mayweather said. “But I moved outside. I wasn’t getting hit that much. I’m a calculating fighter.”
Mayweather was winning alternating rounds, evading Pacquiao’s charges with quick footwork. Mayweather landed hard snap jabs and straight rights to keep Pacquiao away. Then Mayweather cruised through to the end, dancing his way to victory.
Mayweather and Pacquiao squared off for boxing’s newest superfight — the first bout since Oscar De La Hoya’s prime that crossed borders and leaked into the mainstream.
Mayweather, 38, and Pacquiao, 36, are the two best boxers of their era. Mayweather, a defensive mastermind, is a slippery boxer who rolls through punches. Pacquiao, a southpaw puncher, jumps around like a jackrabbit.
Their styles mingled in the ring to unify the 147-pound welterweight championship. Mayweather walked in with the WBA and WBC belts. Pacquiao carried the WBO title. And boxing finally had a fight that could unite generations. Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper sat ringside; Thomas Hearns and Allen Iverson too.
Both Mayweather, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Pacquiao, from General Santos City, Philippines, grew up poor and ready-made for the boxing myth of fought-for riches. Mayweather grew up in the ring with his fighter father, Floyd Sr., and uncle Roger, both boxing pros.
Pacquiao, who sold doughnuts as a kid on the street to scrap for change, came to America as a scrawny, 122-pound super bantamweight. He made his way to Los Angeles and befriended Freddie Roach, a former boxer-turned-trainer.
On Saturday, they battled for part of what could be $400 million in fight revenue. The money, though, wasn’t enough. The fight’s stakes were heartfelt.
Las Vegas last hosted a bout of this magnitude in 1997, when Mike Tyson fought Evander Holyfield for the second time — the notorious, bizarre ear-bite fight.
Mayweather-Pacquiao also had plenty of circus. Single seats were selling for more than $11,000. The MGM sold out for a crowd of 16,507.
Unlike the days of Tyson and Holyfield, when heavyweights still ruled the sport, the welterweight division — in the middle of the scale — is the deepest in boxing, with many of the best fighters.
Mayweather and Pacquiao unified the division like it never had been before. No boxer in the class had ever held the WBO, WBC and WBA belts.
For now, boxing has an undisputed No. 1 pound-for-pound king: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
