After a negotiation that took more than half a decade, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are finally signed to fight. The date scheduled is May 2nd, and the location will be the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. A speculative line had been up for a bit, and not much has changed since the official announcement, as Mayweather is a (-270) favorite over Pac-man, who is returning at (+230).
Prepare for a nine week frenzy in the media, and then the fight. It will be interesting to see where the numbers come in for this one, and there are a lot of numbers. What is the breakdown and division? What will both men make at the end of the day? How many pay-per-views will it sell, and how much will it cost? All of those figures, plus ticket sales, have a chance at shattering existing records, as both men have been among the biggest draws in boxing for a long time.
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The talk has already started to amp up. Mayweather’s uncle Roger, who is his coach and a man who has never been shy around a microphone, has recently promised a knockout in six. Well, that is big talk, as Mayweather has not had a legitimate stoppage win since he beat Ricky Hatton in December of 2007, throwing out the Victor Ortiz knockout in four rounds because of the strange circumstances. Pacquiao can be easy to hit, but he is not going to get caught coming on for a hug like Ortiz.
Interestingly, Pacquiao has not had a stoppage win since Miguel Cotto in 2009, and that stoppage came in ther final round. Prior to that, he stopped Hatton in the second round earlier in 2009. Based on those little details, the time for this fight would have been circa 2009 or 2010.
Here is an interesting video by boxing’s roving reporter Elie Sethback, where he asks retired legends Vito Antuofermo, Carlos Ortiz, Larry Holmes, Marvis Frazier, Evander Holyfield, Gerry Cooney and Evander Holyfield, who is going to win in Pacquiao vs. Mayweather:
