Manny Pacquiao is confident he has the edge to win his bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2.
Their welterweight showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada will be boxing’s richest fight ever. Mayweather announced the bout Friday after months of negotiations, posting a picture of the signed contract online.
“I promised the fans we would get this done and we did,” Mayweather said.
Pacquiao was asleep in the Philippines when the fight was announced, but his camp issued a statement saying the fans deserve the long-awaited fight.
“It is an honor to be part of this historic event,” Pacquiao said. “I dedicate this fight to all the fans who willed this fight to happen and, as always, to bring glory to the Philippines and my fellow Filipinos around the world.”
Pacquiao and Mayweather are considered the top two fighters of their generation. Mayweather is undefeated in 47 fights and has 26 knockout wins while Pacquiao is at 57-5-2 and has 38 knockout victories.
Their intense rivalry for the label of “best pound-for-pound” started in 2011 when both ruled the competition but never came close to the steps leading to the boxing ring.
Eight is enough
In an interview on TV Patrol last night Pacquiao said an eight-week training for the fight was “enough.”
He said “speed” and “experience” were his advantages over Mayweather.
Asked about his motivation in the fight, Pacquiao answered in a mix of English and Filipino: “This fight was five years in the making. Finally it happened, there’s no reason not to be prepared.”
“This is not my first time to fight a taller guy,” Pacquiao said in the interview, adding, “sanay na tayo, alam na natin ang gagawin diyan.”
Record busting
The long anticipated bout in Las Vegas will almost surely break every financial record.
Mayweather could earn $120 million or more, while Pacquiao’s split of the purse will likely be around $80 million.
The fight took five years to finalize.
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 an agreement.
While the fight rivals the 2002 heavyweight title bout between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson for interest, it comes more than five years after the first real effort to put the fighters together in their prime.
Many boxing observers believe both have lost some of their skills, though Mayweather remains a master defensive fighter and Pacquiao showed in his last fight against Chris Algieri that he still has tremendous quickness in his hands.
Still, Pacquiao is 36 and has been through many wars in the ring. And while Mayweather has been largely untouched in his career, he turns 38 on Tuesday.
“I am the best ever, TBE, and this fight will be another opportunity to showcase my skills and do what I do best, which is win,” Mayweather said in his announcement. “Manny is going to try to do what 47 before him failed to do, but he won’t be successful. He will be No. 48.”
Oddsmakers believe Mayweather will do just that, making him a 2 1/2-1 favorite in the scheduled 12-round bout. The fight is expected to do record business in Nevada’s legal sports books, with tens of millions of dollars wagered on the outcome.