Mayweather defeats Pacquiao in 12 rounds by unanimous decision

floyd mayweather on saturday emerged victorious after 12 rounds in a hard-fought, competitive and technically sound win over manny pacquiao in "the fight of the century." judge dave moretti scored the bout 118-110, while both burt clements and glenn feldman had it 116-112.



the mgm grand garden arena in las vegas, nevada was jam packed and sold out with athletes, celebrities and musicians from around the world in the house. the commentary was shared by hbo and showtime on the second ever joint pay-per-view (ppv) telecast between the networks, as were the ring announcing duties.

the event is expected to shatter every revenue and ppv buy rate record, with upward of $300 million and 3 million buys in play. the welterweight battle cost a record $99.99 in high definition. ringside tickets were sold for $10,000 - none of the seats were open to the general public.

mayweather's (48-0, 26 KOs) previous 13 opponents connected on an average of 19% of their punches against him. pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) connected on 19% of his punches against him last night. afterwards, mayweather said, "when the history books are written, this fight will have been worth the wait."

hbo ringside analyst roy jones, jr. said pacquiao looked about 10 mph slower than mayweather. pacquiao's hall of fame trainer freddie roach thought his charge fought too flatfooted most of the night. george foreman calls mayweather a defensive genius. but pacquiao, 36, felt he moved around too much. pacquiao said, "if he would've stayed in one place i could've thrown more punches."

mayweather, 38, picked up a fifth title belt against pacquiao. he's won championships in five weight classes spanning his impeccable career (130 pounds, 135, 140, 147 and 154). mayweather beat victor ortiz in september, 2011, miguel cotto in may, 2012, canelo alvarez in september, 2013 and marcos maidano in may, 2014.

at a press conference on sunday, mayweather vowed to relinquish all of his belts on monday. he said, "i want to give other fighters a chance. i'm not greedy. i'm fortunate to be a champion in two weight classes right now. i'm the undisputed welterweight champion. i have the wbc and wba belt at super welterweight. i have the wbo, wba and wbc at 147. it's time to let other fighters fight for the belts."

mayweather says his final fight will take place in september. in addition to creating an opportunity for young boxers, he will avoid the sanctioning fees which accompany a title defense. the fight will be 12 rounds. if he wins, mayweather intends to retire with a 49-0 career record - tying rocky marciano, internationally respected one of the greatest boxers in history.