The road to the Pacquiao-Mayweather ‘Fight of the Century’

2013: Both fighters stage comebacks

Getting over from a startling 2012, both Mayweather and Pacquiao stage successful comebacks in  the ring in 2013 against different opponents.

Mayweather makes a return by winning via unanimous decision in the welterweight division against Robert Guerrero in his first fight on network Showtime. Jumping from HBO to the rival network makes the prospect of the megabuck fight even more remote.

World Boxing Council champion Floyd Mayweather celebrates after beating and Robert Guerrero at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 4, 2013. Mayweather extended his perfect record to 44 victories, beating Robert Guerrero by unanimous decision in their welterweight title fight. AFP PHOTO

“Pretty Boy” also defeats Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to keep his WBA title, claim the WBC light middleweight belt and sets a new record-high in pay-per-views buys. The superfight ends up as the most lucrative boxing match at the time with 2.2 million PPV buys generating at least $150 million.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a left at Canelo Alvarez during their WBC/WBA 154-pound title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 14, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP

Pacquiao also makes a comeback nearly a year after his crippling knockout loss to Marquez. He, though, shows no ill effect from that setback as he dominates American Brandon Rios in his first fight at the CotaiArena in Macau. The Filipino boxing champion dedicates the win to the victims of supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines celebrates his victory against Brandon Rios of the US after their welterweight boxing bout in Macau on November 24, 2013. AFP PHOTO / Dale de la Rey

Pacquiao also gets the nod of the voters in Sarangani Province anew as he is re-elected as their lone representative to Congress.

Mayweather, meanwhile, lives up to his monicker “Money” as he is named the highest-paid athlete of 2013, largely because of the staggering PPV buys in his fight against Alvarez.

Screengrab from Mayweather’s Instagram post.

On the other side of the world, Pacquiao is dealing with real money issues as his assets are freezed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue for a supposed tax evasion case. The BIR says that Pacquiao supposedly did not remit taxes amounting to P2.2 billion from his earnings in the United States in 2008 and 2009.

Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao accuses Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares of harassing him. But Henares claims Pacquiao did not declare his US income and underdeclared his Philippines income in 2008-2009. RICHARD BALONGLONG/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON; ANDREW TADALAN/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

REFRESH YOUR MEMORY:

• Pacquiao is back, beats Rios in 12 rounds
• BIR: Pacquiao misdeclared ’09 income
• Mayweather dominates Alvarez for easy decision win
• Mayweather beats Guerrero to keep WBC title