Longtime rivals Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao come face to face in Los Angeles on Wednesday in their only meeting to promote their May 2 showdown.
The long-awaited fight is billed the biggest and richest in the history of boxing.
For a few hours, the two boxers were transformed into Hollywood’s biggest stars, walking the red carpet at the Nokia Theatre for their only media tour for their ring date that would presumably determine the best fighter this generation.
Although there were no trash talks, both fighters promised fireworks come fight night in Las Vegas, Nevada to give the fans once-in-a-lifetime entertainment, each expressing confident to emerge from the MGM Grand Garden Arena victorious.
“It’s been a long road but we’re here now,” the unbeaten Mayweather said, as reported by Agence France Presse, during the press conference for the eagerly anticipated welterweight world title fight.
The American said the fight with the Filipino would undeniably be his toughest. “Manny Pacquiao is a good fighter. I can’t see how it will play out, I am not a psychic. But you best believe I will be in top shape and the best I can be.”
Pacquiao, boxing’s only eight-division champion, told the audience he was happy the match is finally happening, believing he will win the fight that is expected to shatter the pay-per-view record that Mayweather shared with Oscar de la Hoya in their 2007 bout.
Pacquiao’s trainer, Hall-of-Famer Freddie Roach, threw few jabs at Mayweather, saying the pound-for-pound king has slowed down a bit and that his defensive skills are waning, making him a perfect target for Pacquiao.
“His legs are little bit shot,” Roach was quoted by AFP as saying. “He is going to have to exchange more. He has to exchange more because his legs won’t take him out of the way … if he has to exchange with Manny Pacquiao he is in trouble.”
While the press conference, attended by at least 600 media representatives from around the world, showed no signs of ill-feelings, the camps of the two fighters have been trading accusations for years. This is one reason for the delay of the fight, which should have happened five years ago.
The camp of Mayweather had blamed Pacquiao for refusing to accept random blood test it had been demanding for the fight to happen and that the Filipino ring legend turned down a $40 million offer to fight the American.
But Pacquiao’s camp insisted that it was Mayweather who was avoiding Pacquiao for years. Top Rank boss Bob Arum, the Filipino’s promoter, had claimed that Mayweather was afraid to lose his undefeated record.
Arum told World Boxing News in December that the “real problem is that Mayweather is so damn smart when it comes to boxing and he realises that of all the fighters fought and all the fighters out there that Manny poses the biggest threat. Why? Because Manny is fast, Manny can punch and Manny is left handed. Floyd never wants to fight a left-handed fighter because his style is designed to fight orthodox fighters.”
But in February, through intervention of HBO and Showtime television networks, the two camps had finally come to terms and agreed to stage what they dubbed as “the fight of the century.”
Under the fight contract, the 38-year-old Mayweather is guaranteed $120 million while Pacquiao, 36, will receive at least $80 million.
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