LAS VEGAS — The fight of the 21st Century — Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao — is less than 24 hours away, and here's everything you need to know about the mega-event.
The combatants: These are the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Mayweather (47-0, with 26 KOs) is 38, lives in Las Vegas and claims he has just two fights left, which is when his six-fight, $200 million contract with Showtime runs out. Pacquiao, 36, from the Philippines, is 57-5-2 (38 KOs). He is under contract to HBO. His day job is working as a second-term congressman in his native Sarangani Province. He just bought a $12 million mansion in Los Angeles as his home away from home. There are those who believe that if Pacquiao defeats Mayweather, he could probably be elected president of the Philippines.
Tale of the tape: Mayweather, born in Grand Rapids, Mich., has four children (he said each will get $50 million from this fight), is 5-8 and has a 72-inch reach. Pacquiao, born in General Santos City in the Philippines, has five children, is 5-6, also with a 72-inch reach.
What's at stake: Three belts are up for grabs — Mayweather's WBC welterweight belt, his WBA super world welterweight belt, and Pacquiao's WBO welterweight belt. And, of course, all-time bragging rights and the top spot on the mythical pound-for-pound list.
The trainers: Mayweather's trainer is his father, Floyd Sr., who is known as a defensive specialist. Pacquiao's cornerman is Freddie Roach, a seven-time trainer of the year who is known as an offensive specialist. The contrasting styles could make for an exciting fight.
The venue: The MGM Grand Garden Arena, attached to the hotel and casino, seats close to 17,000. The promoters will try to squeeze as many people into the place as possible to maximize the live gate. It's likely to come at the expense of the media, most of whom will be watching the fight from the press room or on closed circuit. On Friday, the place was fully opened and packed for the weigh-in for the first time.
Common opponents: There have been five: Ricky Hatton (knocked out by both fighters); Shane Mosley (lost decisions to both); Juan Manuel Marquez (fought Pacquiao four times, knocked him out in the sixth round in their last fight in 2012, lost badly to Mayweather); Miguel Cotto (lost a decision to Mayweather, was stopped in the 12th round by Pacquiao); Oscar De La Hoya (lost a split decision to Mayweather, was stopped by Pacquiao).
The money: This will be the richest fight in the history of boxing, with as much as $400 million in revenue coming in. The live gate is expected to be $72 million, which is $52 million higher than the previous best, for Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez in 2013. Mayweather said Tuesday he could make $200 million, and Pacquiao will make at least $120M. Most of the money will come from pay-per-view buys, which are expected to exceed 3 million. That would bring in around $300,000,000.
Tickets: If you don't already have them, you probably won't get them. Fewer than 1,000 went on sale to the public and were gone in 60 seconds. Tickets were prices at $1,500 for nosebleeds up to $10,000 for ringside. Secondary market prices are much higher.
On TV: HBO and Showtime will produce a joint broadcast for the second time in history, the first being in 2002 for Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson. The telecast will begin at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, with two undercard fights before the long-awaited showdown. The PPV will cost $89.99 for standard definition, and $99.99 for hi-def. There were 50,000 tickets sold at $150 a pop for a closed circuit telecast at the MGM Grand and its other properties in Las Vegas.
The joint broadcast team: James Brown of CBS Sports, the parent company of Showtime, will host the telecast, and Showtime's Paulie Malignaggi, along with Lennox Lewis, will be studio analysts. . . . HBO's Jim Lampley will call the fight and HBO's Roy Jones Jr. and Showtime's Al Bernstein will be ringside analysts. Michael Buffer and Jimmy Lennon Jr. will share the ring announcing duties, Showtime's Jim Gray and HBO's Max Kellerman will be ringside reporters, and Showtime's Steve Farhood and HBO's Harold Lederman will handling the scoring of the fight. Showtime blow-by-blow announcer Mauro Ranallo will handle those duties with analyst Andre Ward for the international broadcast, which will be carried by more than 150 countries and territories.
You bet: As of 1 p.m. ET on Friday, Mayweather is (-210) to win the fight, which means you have to bet $210 to win $100. Those are steep odds in what's supposed to be a mega-fight between worthy adversaries. Pacquiao is at +170.
Referee and judges: Kenny Bayless, considered perhaps the best third man in the ring today, will referee the fight. He has worked seven Pacquiao fights and five Mayweather fights, though some believe he could favor Mayweather's style in the way he works the ring and breaks up fighters. The three ringside judges are Burt Clements, Dave Moretti and Glenn Feldman. Moretti is the most accomplished and the most respected of the three.
The promoters: Mayweather Promotions is the lead dog for this fight, and Mayweather makes as much money as he does because he promotes his own fights and doesn't have to share with a promoter. Pacquiao is handled by Bob Arum's Top Rank, as he has been for more than a decade. There has been no love lost between the two sides for this fight.
PPV stars: Mayweather is the current undisputed star of the pay-per-view world, having fought 13 times overall on PPV, nine on HBO and four on Showtime. He holds the top two all-time best total sales, having sold 2.48 million for his 2007 fight against Oscar De La Hoya, himself one of the great PPV stars of all time, and 2.2 against Canelo Alvarez in 2013. He has generated $873 million total on 14.5 million sales. Pacquiao has made 2o PPV appearances, 17 on HBO, one on Showtime and the other two on Top Rank TV. He has 13.4 million in sales for revenue of $741 million. Together, they've generated $1.6 million in total revenue.
The undercard: This is not exactly a scintillating undercard. The two televised bouts feature undefeated WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) meeting fellow Mexican Jose Cayetano (17-3, 8 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight bout, and Ukraine's Vasyl Lomachenko (3-1, 1 KO) will defend his WBO featherweight title against Puerto Rico's Gamalier Rodriguez (25-2-3, 17 KOs). Both Santa Cruz and Lomachenko are excellent boxers, but their styles are not conducive to toe-to-toe slugfests.
Celebrities: They will fill the arena Saturday. Clint Eastwood, Robert DeNiro and Jack Nicholson will be among the A-listers attending, and vying for the 900 ringside seats. Others include Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Ronda Rousey (as Mayweather once asked, who's he?), Michael J. Fox, Jimmy Kimmel and Tom Brady. And of course, Justin Beiber will walk to the ring with his buddy Floyd Mayweather.
