It’s official, after several months of speculation, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao have finally come to an agreement to fight May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
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The deal was completed Friday, The New York Times reports.
Speculation that the two could finally reach a deal increased after the two boxers met for the first time at a Miami Heat basketball game on Jan. 27.
However, at the NBA Allstar game just last week it seemed that a deal would never get done when Mayweather shot down rumors that he had signed a deal, The Washington Post notes.
“I haven’t signed yet, and he hasn’t signed yet, you know. It’s just been speculations and rumors, but hopefully we can make the fight happen,” Mayweather told TNT sideline reporter David Aldrige.
Nearly a week later and Mayweather has held true to his promise to give fans of boxing what they want.
“I promised the fans we would get this done, and we did,” Mayweather wrote on social media platform Shots, which he is an investor of.
Pacquiao added that he is happy as well to give the fans what they waited so long for. “…They deserve it,” the 36-year-old said.
The fight will be broadcast as a joint venture between Showtime, who holds the rights to Mayweather, and HBO Sports, who holds the rights to Pacquiao, The New York Times notes.
As of now there are no details on what the pay per view price will be or who the announcers will be.
The fight is expected to be the highest-grossing fight ever, with reports that it could exceed $200 million with a 60/40 split that will be in favor of Mayweather, according to The New York Times.
Mayweather’s record stands at 47-0 with 26 knockouts and Pacquiao holds a record of 57-5-2 with 38 knockouts.
This fight will finally settle the debate of who is the number one boxer of this era, ESPN notes.
Mayweather, who turns 38 on Tuesday, was able to get in a little trash talk about the highly anticipated fight.
“This will be the biggest event in the history of the sport. Manny is going to try to do what 47 before him failed to do, but he won’t be successful. He will be number 48,” Mayweather said.
Image Courtesy INFphoto.com
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