Mayweather sends Pacquiao packing

Las Vegas, May 3

Floyd Mayweather put on a defensive masterclass to extend his undefeated record to 48-0 with a unanimous points victory over Manny Pacquiao in the richest fight in boxing history, and further cemented his claim that he is the best fighter of his generation.

The welterweight clash at the MGM Arena has been six years in the making, and will be most lucrative fight in boxing history, with the combined earnings for the pair expected to top £300m. “I outboxed him,” Mayweather said afterwards. “He never figured out my jab and my right hand.”

The 38-year-old Mayweather boxed brilliantly on the front foot from the first round, one stiff right jab sending an early message to Pacquiao. Pacquiao began the second on the attack, but soon the movement of Mayweather started to cause him problems. Pacquiao was swinging, but not getting close. Mayweather said Pacquiao was “reckless” in the build-up, and offered miss after miss in the third, as the American opened up a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, Pacquiao finally caused Mayweather some trouble, rocking Mayweather to the ropes with a solid left, but he just could not capitalise. Pacquiao tried to up the tempo in the fifth and sixth, but there was only one man controlling this fight, and it was ‘Money’ Mayweather.

It was in the eighth when Pacquiao had some success again, another stiff left connected but soon Mayweather continued his domination of the fight, with Pacquiao, who just was not throwing enough combinations, growing more and more frustrated.

The crowd at the MGM Arena soon booed as Mayweather coasted to the final bell. The judges then scored the fight 118-110, 116-112, and 116-112 in Mayweather’s favour.

Pacquiao didn’t agree with the decision, claiming he should have won. “I thought I caught him many more times than he did,” Pacquiao said. “I was never hurt. I was very surprised at the scores. ”

Mayweather’s record now stands at 48-0, while Pacquiao has lost six of his 65 fights, with two draws. — The Independent

Pacquiao blames it on injured shoudler

Manny Pacquiao said a shoulder injury hampered his bid to hand Floyd Mayweather a first ever defeat . Pacquiao suffered the injury during a sparring session, according to his trainer Freddie Roach. “In the third round, I felt pain in the shoulder,” said Pacquiao. "We didn't throw a lot of combinations because it hurt.” Pacquiao had been taking anti-inflammatory shots while preparing for the fight. But, according to reports, he was denied a shot in the locker room a couple of hours before the fight. Freddie Roach, his trainer, said the injury occurred during sparring while preparing for the fight.

Numbers you must know from the fight

The bout might have been ‘boring’ according to some, but the statistics reveal what a defensive masterclass the undefeated American put on to beat the Filipino challenger. Here are the 10 best stats from the fight:

• Pacquiao only landed 19 per cent of his total punches. To be exact, he threw 429 punches but only 81 found the mark.
• Mayweather didn’t get the most out of his attack (considering he was defensive throughout) but got more out of his punches as he landed 34 per cent of his total punches. That is 148 punches reaching the target out of 435.
• Pacquiao threw 193 jabs and landed 18 – that is nine per cent.
• Mayweather threw 267 jabs and landed 67 – that is 25 per cent.
• Pacquiao threw 236 power punches and landed 63 – that is 27 per cent.
• Mayweather threw 168 power punches and landed 81 – that is 48 per cent.
• Mayweather landed an average of just six punches per round and Pacquaio 12.
• The estimated revenue for the match was $300-$400m.
• Pacquiao’s shorts said to be worth $1.5m (almost £1m) after six companies bid for sponsorship space.
• The three judges officially scored the fight 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112.