Floyd Mayweather has extended his perfect record to 48 wins, after defeating Manny Pacquiao on an unanimous points decision in a fight that the American controlled throughout.
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The bout had possibly the most intense and heavily scrutinised build up of perhaps any sporting event in history. The weigh-in alone saw around 11,500 people cram into the Garden Arena at the MGM Grand on Friday. Perhaps fans wanted to see with their own eyes that this monumental match-up was truly about to happen after years of torment flirting with the idea, without ever getting to this point.
Every strength and weakness was analysed, and for many it came down to whether Money’s defence could withstand the aggression of the Filipino. However, it was Mayweather that looked more threatening in the first round, landing a couple of solid shots. His calm demeanour was in stark contrast to Pacquiao, who was frenetic, and failed to trouble his opponent.
The early rounds followed a similar pattern, with Pacquiao buzzing around the ring, but failing to land many punches that asked any sort of a question of Mayweather. Although, it appeared in the fourth that the 36-year-old was starting to find his feet. He caught the American with a great left hand, and capitalised with a succession of body shots.
The Pacman’s disappointing night was perhaps summed up in the eighth. He managed to pin Mayweather to the ropes with another set of punches to the body, however, the 38-year-old simply shook his head. It wasn’t to be the Filipino’s moment.
As the rounds ticked by, it became painfully obvious that for Pacquiao to win, he had to pull off the seemingly unthinkable and knock Mayweather out. However, Money remained in the ascendency, landing a vicious right hook in the penultimate round.
And the final round was something of a procession, as the writing had been on the wall since the opening moments. It was no surprise when it was announced that the scorecards – with two judges calling it 116-112, and another 118-110 – all fell in Mayweather’s favour.
The champ confirmed at the end that he will compete once more later in the year – hoping to equal Rocky Marciano’s total of 49 fautless fights – before hanging up his gloves for the final time.
In a city where gambling can sometimes change your life, it appeared – frustratingly from a spectator’s point of view – that Pacquiao was unwilling to roll the dice, even in the final round. In the end, Floyd Mayweather proved that he is one of the greatest ever.
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