Mayweather, Pacquiao address upcoming fight at press conference
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny will address their May 2 welterweight championship unification fight at a live-streamed press conference from Los Angeles at 4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
To watch the press conference, streaming live from the Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles, click here or check out the YouTube stream below. This will mark the official announcement of the fight, as well as serving as the only time the fighters will share a stage prior to fight week.
Mayweather, the WBA and WBC welterweight champion, carries a 47-0 (26 KOs) record into the bout. Pacquiao, the WBO welterweight champ, sports a record of 57-5-2 (38 KOs).
The bout, which figures to be the biggest pay-per-view event in boxing history, will pay Mayweather a reported $120 million while Pacquiao will receive a reported $80.
The fight, which matches boxing's two biggest attractions of recent years, has been in the making for five years. It finally came together in recent months with both fighters putting aside past differences over various issues -- including drug testing and television rights -- to reach agreement.
The fight will be televised as a joint venture between competing networks Showtime and HBO, which will share announcers with Jim Lampley and Al Bernstein reportedly handling the task at ringside.
As part of the agreement, Mayweather insisted on having the right to announce the bout. He also won concessions from the Pacquiao camp on who enters the ring first, what type of gloves are used, and a number of other issues, including a reported 60-40 split of the purse.
Both fighters will bring 147-pound titles into the ring, but the fight is about far more than belts. Mayweather, who is unbeaten in 47 fights, wants to stake his claim as one of the greatest fighters ever, and remove any doubts about his legacy by fighting the boxer who is thought to be the greatest challenge of his career.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, will try to show that a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 and a disputed decision loss to Timothy Bradley should not define a remarkable career that began 20 years ago in the Philippines.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
