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Mayweather beats Pacquiao in unanimous decision

 
Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a right at Manny Pacquiao during their welterweight unification championship bout on May 2, 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.  [Al Bello | Getty Images]
Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a right at Manny Pacquiao during their welterweight unification championship bout on May 2, 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. [Al Bello | Getty Images]
Published May 3, 2015

LAS VEGAS — The fight of the century lived up to much of the hype.

Floyd "Money" Mayweather remained undefeated Saturday night — and cleared somewhere around a reported $180 million in the process — with a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao in a fight at least five years in the making.

The judges scored the fight 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110 for Mayweather (48-0, 26 knockouts).

With the WBA, WBO and WBC world welterweight championships on the line, Mayweather, 38, started well, withstood a Pacquiao rally and closed strong.

In Round 6 Pacquiao, 36, chased Mayweather to the ropes repeatedly with superior energy and aggression. Pacquiao unloaded with combinations that brought the celebrity-filled crowd to its feet, but Mayweather stared back and mouthed, "Nope, nope."

At that point Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs), who took his third loss in his past six fights, seemed to have momentum, but Mayweather began to take over again in the latter stages.

In Round 11 Pacquiao was unable to land his speedy combinations and Mayweather could not do much more than jab, counterpunch and stay out of trouble. Pacquiao backed Mayweather into a corner, but Mayweather landed a clean left hand on the chin moments later.

The fight could draw $400 million in revenue, according to Time magazine, and was delayed until two minutes after midnight Eastern time because HBO and Showtime pay-per-view requests were backlogged.

Reporters say they were banned: Two prominent female journalists who have detailed Mayweather's domestic-violence history wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning that they had been denied credentials to the fight. CNN's Rachel Nichols said she and Michelle Beadle, who works for ESPN and HBO, would not be able to cover the fight.

"Mayweather's team told my producer the camp was blocking my credential," Nichols said after Beadle posted a message saying the two had been "banned from the MGM Grand Arena."

Mayweather Promotions, which controlled distribution of the media credentials, denied the reports. It said being credentialed was different from having a seat in the arena. Media seating was not confirmed until late Friday.

CNN had multiple credentials but just one allocated seat inside the arena, said Kelly Swanson, spokeswoman for Mayweather Promotions. Nichols was credentialed and CNN was deciding which correspondent to have in the area, Swanson said.