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

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Road to the ‘Fight of the Century’

They are the best fighters of their generation, great in their own right, and it is just fitting that at one point in their illustrious careers they cross paths.

The road was by no means easy with the match fought outside of the ring for years. Accusations and taunts were aplenty from both camps, making the possibility of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather stepping into the ring to fight each other even more impossible.

But all those road blocks just made what is being dubbed as the “Fight of the Century” even more captivating for millions of boxing fans.

Let’s take a look back at the seven long years it took before this biggest match in boxing history came to fruition.

2009: Rumors of megabuck fight begin

Talks of a potential megabuck bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. surface late in 2009 when both boxers are at the peak of their careers.

Mayweather comes out of 21-month retirement to fight counter-puncher Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Mayweather bags his 40th win via unanimous decision.

Pacquiao, who ascends to the throne as top pound-for-pound fighter, adds British knockout artist Ricky Hatton and Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto to his list of victims which already included Marquez, David Diaz, and heavy-favorite Oscar Dela Hoya. Pacquiao knocked out Hatton in the second round of their May fight before he stopped Cotto in the 12th round six months after.

By then, the timing is finally right for two fighters to meet in the ring with Pacquiao ranked no.1 in the pound-for-pound list after winning his seventh world title while Mayweather in close second.

But negotiations between both camps don’t materialize after Mayweather demanded a blood test within 30 days before the fight.

Pacquiao later on files a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather for suggesting Pacquiao uses performance-enhancing drugs.

REFRESH YOUR MEMORY:

• Pacquiao sues Mayweather for defamation
• Pacquiao TKOs Hatton
• $100-M fight: Pacquiao vs De La Hoya

2010: Negotiations between both camps fizzle

Pacquiao, the newly-minted Fighter of the Decade, starts the year running circles around the flat-footed Joshua Clottey in March in the match billed as “the Event” at the Cowboys’ Stadium in Texas. Pacquiao won via unanimous decision.

Two months after, Mayweather outpoints “Sugar” Shane Mosely in his only fight of 2010 to remain undefeated in his professional boxing career.

Two months after beating Clottey, Pacquiao becomes the “Fighting Congressman” as he is elected to the House of Representatives as the lone representative of Sarangani province in Mindanao.

Before the end of the year, Pacquiao steps into the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium anew and cuts Antonio Margarito down to size to claim the vacant WBC light middleweight champion.  After winning via unanimous decision in a total domination of Margarito, Pacquiao becomes the first boxer to win titles in eight weight classes.

But despite repeated attempts at making the fight happen and even entering into mediation, negotiations between both camps fizzle after Mayweather demanded for a urine and blood testing up until fight day, which Pacquiao is opposed to.

To further fuel the tension between the two, Mayweather rips Pacquiao in a profanity-filled, racist video posted on streaming site U-steam, where he reportedly calls the Filipino icon a “little yellow chump.” The American boxer later apologized for his tirade.

REFRESH YOUR MEMORY:

• Pacquiao: Margarito better than Clottey
• Pacquiao defeats Margarito for 8th crown
• Pacquiao: I’ll fight as boxer, congressman
• Pacquiao watches, shrugs off ‘racist’ video; Floyd apologizes

2011: Pacquiao dominates, Mayweather convicted of charges

In May, Pacquiao returns to the MGM Grand Garden Arena as he gets a crack at one of Mayweather’s previous opponent in Shane Mosely. He gains the nod of all three judges to retain the WBO welterweight title.

Mayweather, meanwhile, scores a highly-controversial fourth-round knockout over Victor Ortiz to win the WBC welterweight title in September. Mayweather takes advantage of an unguarded Ortiz, who is looking at the referee with his hands down, and connects with a solid right hand to Ortiz face.

Pacquiao and his nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez met for the third time in the ring in another close and controversial fight. The Filipino boxing champion bags the victory by majority decision, but the win is later on criticized by some fans as “robbery.”

Before the year ends, Mayweather is sentenced to serve 90 days in the county jail after pleading guilty to reduced battery domestic violence charge involving his ex-girlfriend.

REFRESH YOUR MEMORY:

• Pacquiao melts Mosley into America’s Sugar Shame
• Mayweather didn’t win fair and square vs Ortiz, says INQUIRER.net poll
• Pacquiao edges Marquez, retains WBO crown
• Mayweather sentenced to 90 days in jail

2012: Mayweather jailed, Pacquiao knocked out

Early in the year, Pacquiao and Mayweather reportedly talk over the phone about the possibility of a megafight. According to ESPN, it was Mayweather who reached out to Pacquiao for a possible May 5 fight, but both fighters couldn’t agree on the equal purse split.

Just before he is set to serve time, Mayweather returns to light middleweight division and triumphs over one of Pacquiao’s victims in Cotto via unanimous decision in May.

At 42-0, it seems like nothing could stop Mayweather. But his career hits a snag as he is detained at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas for 90 days for the domestic violence charges. He is released in August.

While Mayweather is locked up with no television in his solo cell, Pacquiao loses to American Timothy Bradley in a highly-disputed split decision to end an unbeaten run. Amid criticisms from fans and major news outlets, the WBO’s Championship Committee reviews the video of the fight and says that Pacquiao should’ve won. The result, however, cannot be overturned.

Six months later, the boxing world stands still as Pacquiao falls flat on his face after lunging into Marquez’s counter right hand in their fourth and final meeting. Pacquiao is knocked out cold with just a second left in the sixth round in his non-title bout at welterweight against the Mexican boxer.

After Pacquiao’s back-to-back setbacks, chances of the fight against Mayweather ever happening look bleaker than ever.

REFRESH YOUR MEMORY:

• Pacquiao ‘embarrassed’ by Mayweather offer
• Judge refuses to ease boxer Mayweather jail stay
• Mayweather released from Vegas jail after 2 months
• Pacquiao loses in split decision to Bradley
• Marquez knocks out Pacquiao in 6th round

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.

“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.

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.”

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.

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.

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

2014: Pacquiao, Mayweather fights same boxers but not each other

Both sides continue to trade words instead of punches as the world grows weary. Mayweather calls Pacquiao a “desperate dog” who is chasing a megabout against him due to tax problems, while Pacquiao, to disprove Mayweather’s claim, offers to fight for charity.

Pacquiao moves on and avenges the controversial loss to Bradley by dominating the American via unanimous decision to regain the WBO welterweight crown in a return to the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

Barely a month after, Mayweather prevails over Argentinian Marcos Maidana in what is considered as the toughest fight Mayweather had even been in so far in his undefeated career.

Mayweather grants Maidana a rematch in September and won more convincingly this time.

Pacquiao fights again in Macau. He proves to be in a whole different class as he took American Chris Algieri to school to retain his WBO belt.

Mayweather and Pacquiao have fought the same boxers—Oscar dela Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosely and Miguel Cotto—but not each other.

https://youtu.be/wS8WJ6Lz1AU

At this point, both camps continue taunt each other everywhere but the ring. Pacquiao even appears in a Footlocker commercial where he pokes fun at Mayweather’s refusal to fight him.

But rumors of a prospective showdown between the top two pound-for-pound fighters resurface anew with Mayweather proposing a May 2, 2015 fight in one interview.

REFRESH YOUR MEMORY:

• Pacquiao’s dare to Mayweather: Let’s fight for charity
• Pacquiao wins unanimous decision vs Bradley to reclaim WBO title
• Mayweather beats Maidana in unification bout
• Mayweather remains unbeaten; says Maidana bit him in rematch
• Pacquiao shows class against Algieri, retains WBO belt

2015: Megafight is on!

A chance meeting between Pacquiao and Mayweather at an NBA game Miami proves to be the turning point of the last half a decade. They are seen exchanging phone numbers and reportedly continues talking about a megafight later at Pacquiao’s suite.

Negotiations are getting closer than ever before, but no deal has still been signed with both camps going back-and-forth in their talks. Mayweather and Pacquiao take the fight to social media as they tease fans with cryptic posts often alluding to each other.

But one day, everything falls into place—previous disagreements are resolved including the drug and blood testing, the purse split, the PPV issue between rival Showtime and HBO—as both boxers finally sign on the dotted line.

On February 21, it is announced that the fight the whole word has been waiting for between the two best boxers of their generation, Mayweather and Pacquiao, is finally on for May 2, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

REFRESH YOUR MEMORY:

• Pacquiao, Mayweather had hour-long private meeting— report
• Talks for May 2 Pacquiao-Mayweather bout stalled anew
• Pacquiao-Mayweather May 2 fight down to 2 issues
• Pacquiao, Mayweather use social media to confirm megafight
• It’s on: Mayweather says he and Pacquiao to fight May 2