Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will step into the ring Saturday night in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for one of the most anticipated fights in the history of boxing.
Many people thought this fight would never happen, but neither boxer could claim to be the best of this generation without fighting each other at least once.
There’s no question that more pressure is on Mayweather, who’s putting his perfect 47-0-0 record on the line against the most dangerous opponent of his career.
Money May is a defensive fighter who unleashes devastating combos on the counter attack when his opponent makes a mistake. If Pacquiao can be aggressive and attack Mayweather early without leaving himself too vulnerable, he will have a chance to win in the later rounds.
The welterweight championship of the world is at stake. Which fighter will cement his legacy on the sport’s grandest stage?
Keep it right here with NESN.com for live score updates, highlights and round-by-round analysis of Mayweather-Pacquiao.
Post-Fight
Outcome: Floyd Mayweather wins by unanimous decision. He’s now 48-0-0. Mayweather also defended his WBC and WBA welterweight titles and won the WBO welterweight title as a result of his victory.
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Stats
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ROUND 12
— Mayweather evaded Pacquiao, which was expected given his advantage in the score. PacMan maybe won three rounds. We now await the final scores.
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ROUND 11
— Pacquiao only landed 11 punches that round.
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ROUND 10
— We’re getting to the point where Pacquiao is going to need a knockout to win. He’s not landing enough punches to win by a decision, especially with Mayweather already having a 6-4 or 7-3 edge in rounds won so far.
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— Mayweather has the edge so far.
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ROUND 9
— After a mostly unexciting round, Pacquiao lands a good left-hander to Mayweather’s face, but he ran out of time to do anything else.
ROUND 8
— PacMan hits Mayweather with two good left-handers, but Mayweather counters with two rights. The action is heating up in regard to power shots landed.
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— Mayweather has a 32-11 edge in punches landed over Rounds 7 and 8.
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ROUND 7
— Mayweather is landing several good punches. Every time PacMan has a good round, Money May responds with a dominant round next time.
— Pacquiao connects on a left-hander after a poor start to the round.
— It’s possible this is a result from Round 4 when PacMan caught him with a huge left-hander.
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ROUND 6
— Good body shot by Pacquiao, who’s clearly targeting that area early on.
— Pacquiao has Mayweather leaning on the ropes, but Money May is blocking all of the punches with his fists up in front of his face. He’s shaking his head at PacMan, as if to say “that’s not good enough.”
— Very even round, but I’d give a slight edge to Pacquiao.
— Floyd’s father was not happy after that round.
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ROUND 5
— Mayweather connects on a jab and an uppercut.
— Pacquiao threw less than 25 punches that round.
— Round 5 clearly a win for Money May.
ROUND 4
— Pacquiao pummels Mayweather, who blocked a lot of the attempts with his gloves in front of his face, but Pacquiao has landed a few powerful punches early in this round. Mayweather was momentarily stunned by a huge left-hand punch.
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— Round 4 goes to PacMan, no question.
— Good round for PacMan.
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ROUND 3
— Mayweather hits Pacquiao in the waist and PacMan is not happy with the placement. It was a little low.
— PacMan is missing on a lot of his punches.
— Pacquiao lands a jab, but Mayweather responds with a huge right hand to the face. Easily his best punch of the fight so far.
— Round 3 was pretty even. Slight edge to Mayweather.
ROUND 2
— Pacquiao has started the round with great energy and has already landed two or three good shots. He dove at Floyd to begin the round.
— Pacquiao backs Mayweather into a corner and hits him with a combo jab. The crowd is sensing Pacquiao’s resurgence and is loving it.
— Hard left hand to the side of Mayweather’s head by PacMan. Best punch of the fight so far.
— Second round should be a win for Pacquiao, but it was close. He took it to Money May the entire round and landed about five to 10 punches.
ROUND 1
— We’re underway!
— Mayweather lands a powerful right-hand punch and is coming out more aggressively than expected.
— Mayweather lands another huge right-hander. Pacquiao responds by pushing Mayweather into the corner and gets in some shots to the body before the bell sounds.
— First round goes to Mayweather. There wasn’t a ton of action, but he landed the most punches.
Tale of the Tape
Via Showtime/HBO broadcast.
Introductions
— Pacquiao is the first to enter the arena. Loud chants of “Manny, Manny” are shouted from the crowd. ABC late night comedy star Jimmy Kimmel is the most famous person in his entourage.
— Mayweather steps into the arena to a mixed reaction from the crowd that included cheers and boos. Pop star Justin Bieber was included in Floyd’s entourage.
Pre-Fight News, Notes and Photos
Pacquiao is enjoying the moment prior to the most important fight of his life.
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— Per the PPV broadcast, some cable companies in the United States are having trouble handling the amount of pay-per-view purchases because so many people are trying to watch this fight. As a result, Showtime/HBO has been asked to delay the fight a little bit.
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— There’s so much money involved in this fight.
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— It’s almost time for the pre-fight introductions.
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— Jamie Foxx sings the Star-Spangled Banner. It was a pretty good performance.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
