48-0: Floyd Mayweather beats Manny Pacquiao in 'Fight of the Century'
After 12 rounds and nearly six years of waiting, Floyd Mayweather finally defeated Manny Pacquiao to move to 48-0 in his career while picking up a defining victory for his legacy against another of the pound-for-pound best boxers in the sport.
Mayweather used superior defense as always to make Pacquiao miss a majority of his punches all night long while he used a stiff left jab and a hard counter right to keep the smaller fighter at bay.
Pacquiao lunged forward several times during the fight and tried to open up his flurries, but Mayweather's defense was just too good and he took very little damage.
By the final couple of rounds, Mayweather was up by a wide margin although Pacquiao said afterwards that he believed he was winning, which is why he didn't go for broke late in the 11th and 12th.
Mayweather stays undefeated and likely moves into the conversation as one of the best boxers of all time after finally vanquishing Pacquiao on Saturday night.
Official result: Floyd Mayweather def. Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision (118-110, 116-112, 116-112)
Now see how we scored the fight round by round.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER (47-0) VS. MANNY PACQUIAO (57-5-2)
Kenny Bayless is the man in charge as referee. The judges are Dave Moretti, Burt Clements and Glenn Feldman.
Cable systems are apparently overloaded with orders for the fights so the walkouts for Mayweather and Pacquiao are delayed. Originally the fighters were expected to hit the ring around 11:30pm ET.
Manny Pacquiao making his walk to the ring with Jimmy Kimmel in his entourage. Floyd Mayweather now on his way with Justin Bieber in tow. Fight is just minutes away now.
Round 1:
Mayweather sticking the left jab and cracks Pacquiao with two hard right crosses that are the best punches of the round. Pacquiao struggling to get inside on Mayweather early. Fast start for Mayweather so far.
10-9 Mayweather
Round 2:
Mayweather still landing his lead right as his best punch all round long. Pacquiao finally gets Mayweather trapped in the corner, but can't land much. Mayweather's defense still on point although Pacquiao lands his best punch thus far with a left hand with about a minute to go.
10-9 Mayweather
Round 3:
Pacquiao starts the round stronger this time as he puts a couple of combinations together. Mayweather fires back with a few more straight rights. Pacquiao lands a solid shot with just a few seconds left but Mayweather counters with a hard shot of his own. Closer round.
10-9 Mayweather
Round 4:
Pacquiao comes out aggressive and he's finally landing some big combinations. He traps Mayweather against the ropes and it looks like a hard left hand slips through that stuns him! Mayweather shrugs it off and comes back out with a few jabs before the round ends.
10-9 Pacquiao
Round 5:
Mayweather has recovered and he comes out taking the center right away, landing a few hard counter rights. Pacquiao not throwing nearly as much this round as Mayweather pops him with the left jab and right hand several times.
10-9 Mayweather
Round 6:
Pacquiao attacking again, pinning Mayweather against the ropes and flurrying with punches. Nothing much slips through but Pacquiao is throwing a lot more this round. Mayweather keeping him away with a good stiff left hand. Good round.
10-9 Pacquiao
Round 7:
Mayweather setting up the jab again and unloading a hard right hand to come back again after a lackluster round. Pacquiao is lunging forward with punches and manage to land a couple good lefts before the round is over.
10-9 Mayweather
Round 8:
Mayweather cracks Pacquiao with a pair of quick left hooks and his best counter right hand since a couple of rounds ago. Pacquiao attacking but can't get Mayweather trapped and he's eating the jab from the left hand when he comes in hard.
10-9 Mayweather
Round 9:
Tactical round for both fighters with Mayweather landing a nice right hand straight down the pipe before Pacquiao comes back with a flurry and a solid left hand late. Close round, going to be tough to score.
10-9 Pacquiao
Round 10:
Pacquiao walking Mayweather down a bit more in this round, he's not landing any big shots but he's opening up his combinations, which shows good aggressiveness and ring control. Mayweather just sticking the jab as counters.
10-9 Pacquiao
Round 11:
Mayweather with his best round in a while. He cracks Pacquiao with a couple nasty right hands and a big left hook late in the round. Pacquiao chasing throughout, but he's not throwing or landing nearly enough.
10-9 Mayweather
Round 12:
Mayweather closes it out just like he started with superior defense and making Pacquiao miss a lot. Pacquiao is coming after him but he just can't land much and Mayweather continues to counter with good, quick punches.
10-9 Floyd Mayweather
FOX Sports scores it 116-112 for Floyd Mayweather
Official result: Floyd Mayweather def. Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision (118-110, 116-112, 116-112)
Analysis:
This was undoubtedly the kind of fight Mayweather envisioned as he made Pacquiao miss a huge percentage of his punches all night but maybe the most stunning part was how much he kept the Filipino fury from even throwing many of his best combinations. Mayweather used his long reach to pop Pacquiao with jabs all night and his counter right was definitely his best punch. In the end, Mayweather enjoyed a comfortable lead and cruised to victory.
Mayweather says he has one more fight left on his contract that he wants for September and then he officially will retire from the sport of boxing forever.
Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) vs. Jose Cayetano (17-3, 8 KOs)
Round 1:
These two are swining for the fences early, but Santa Cruz lands far more punches with greater accuracy to the body and head and he pushed Cayetano to the ropes several times during round one.
10-9 Santa Cruz
Round 2:
Santa Cruz is landing to the body with ease while also unloading some heavy right hands to Cayetano's jaw. Cayetano tries to counter and shakes his head when he's getting popped, but Santa Cruz is putting together some serious offense so far.
10-9 Santa Cruz
Round 3:
Santa Cruz still feeding Cayetano a steady diet of right hands. The best thing to say about Cayetano this fight is the fact that his chin has held up. He's eating a lot of shots and still trying to fire back but not doing much in return.
10-9 Santa Cruz
Round 4:
Santa Cruz teeing off on Cayetano with a barrage of body-head combinations. Cayetano seems content to back up against the ropes and just fire back with counters occasionally while soaking up a ton of Santa Cruz's punches once again.
10-9 Santa Cruz
Round 5:
Santa Cruz traps Cayetano in the corner and just cracks him with a couple of vicious head shots but miraculously it doesn't put him down. Cayetano hanging tough but he's getting killed against the ropes and in the corner by Santa Cruz. Blowout at this point.
10-9 Santa Cruz
Round 6:
Lefts to the body, rights to the head for Santa Cruz this round. He's pacing himself a bit more this round but still completely out working Cayetano, who is hanging tough but not offering up much offense.
10-9 Santa Cruz
Round 7:
Santa Cruz spends about half of the round in the center for the first time all fight, but eventually he moves Cayetano back towards the ropes and starts unloading big combinations again. Cayetano still taking the shots so either his chin is rock solid or Santa Cruz just doesn't hit all that hard.
10-9 Santa Cruz
Round 8:
Another shut out round for Santa Cruz. He triples up his right jab and then unloads another big right hand. Cayetano tells him to bring it on although he's not firing much back to make Santa Cruz actually respect his punching power.
10-9 Santa Cruz
Round 9:
Santa Cruz finally opens up a small cut under Cayetano's right eye. Santa Cruz still much more effective but he know he has this one wrapped up so he's flurrying combinations when the openings come but his offense is slowing down just slightly.
10-9 Santa Cruz
Round 10:
Another good round for Santa Cruz and that should wrap up a perfect scorecard for him. Cayetano gets a ton of credit for accepting this fight on short notice and making it all 10 rounds against a much better fighter.
10-9 Santa Cruz
FOX Sports scores it 100-90 for Leo Santa Cruz
Official result: Leo Santa Cruz def. Jose Cayetano by unanimous decision (100-90 on all scorecards)
Analysis:
Real mismatch on paper although give a huge amount of credit to Jose Cayetano for sticking in there and taking some huge offense from Santa Cruz and making it to the final bell. Santa Cruz has a lot of talent, but he really needs to step up his competition if he wants to prove he's a top fighter.
Vasyl Lomachenko (3-1, 1 KO) vs. Gamalier Rodriguez (25-2-3, 17 KOs)
Round 1:
Not a ton of action in round one, Rodriguez looking for body punches and staying busier throughout the first three minutes than Lomachenko, who is looking to find his timing so he can apply his jab.
10-9 Rodriguez
Round 2:
Stronger round for Lomachenko, much more aggressive with combinations as he begins to land to the head and body. Rodriguez isn't backing down and as of yet, Lomachenko isn't making him pay with counters. Lomachenko's jab is starting to land as well.
10-9 Lomachenko
Round 3:
Lomachenko picking Rodriguez apart in round 3. Lomachenko established a stiff right jab that round, just snapping Rodriguez's head back at will throughout the round. Lomachenko's strongest round thus far.
10-9 Lomachenko
Round 4:
Lomachenko is just blasting away now with his right hand tearing through Rodriguez's defense. Lomachenko lands several hard right hooks and a nasty right uppercut that blasts Rodriguez on the jaw. Rodriguez still standing but he's taking some hard shots.
10-9 Lomachenko
Round 5:
Rodriguez is committed to the body shot but he goes low for the third time and the referee takes a point. Lomachenko in complete control, loading up on head shots and coming in with faster and faster combinations. Lopsided fight at this point.
10-8 Lomachenko
Round 6:
Rodriguez hits Lomachenko low again so the Ukranian responds with one of his own as the referee warns both fighters. Rodriguez gets another warning for holding because he's not doing much else. Lomachenko just lighting him up in the exchanges.
10-8 Lomachenko
Round 7:
Lomachenko with another strong round as he drops Rodriguez to the mat ground with a hard body shot. Lomachenko goes for the kill, but Rodriguez survives until the end but this fight is very one sided at this point.
10-9 Lomachenko
Round 8:
Another point deduction for a low blow for Rodriguez. Lomachenko just firing at will as he pops Rodriguez with rapid fire combinations over and over again. Body shots are getting nasty
10-8 Lomachenko
Round 9:
Lomachenko cracks Rodriguez with a right hook and a straight right and Rodriguez drops to his knee and the referee counts to 10 and it's over. Rodriguez was just completely overmatched in this one.
Official result: Vasyl Lomachenko def. Gamalier Rodriguez by KO, :50 seconds, R9
Analysis:
Following a close first round, Lomachenko found his range and absolutely decimated a completely outmatched opponent. Lomachenko is a star on the rise and he's a fighter to watch in the next few years. Tons of talent and even more potential.
Undercard bouts also featured on the pay-per-view include:
Leo "El Terremoto" Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) vs. Jose Cayetano (17-3, 8 KOs)
Vasyl Lomachenko (3-1, 1 KO) vs. Gamalier Rodriguez (25-2-3, 17 KOs).
