Pacquiao vs. Mayweather - Boxing's Money Printing Machine

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You'd be hard-pressed to unite all boxing fans around the answer to the question: What is the greatest fight in the history of the sport? Usually in such disputes we turn to the numbers. As professional boxing has become a machine for huge financial gains, many would describe the 2015 fight between the Filipino Manny Pacquiao and the American Floyd Mayweather as the most memorable in history. The two are far from the heavyweight category that has attracted the viewer's eye for years. But both are great champions who possess a divine aura about the sport. Their fight was billed as a style war. The dominant and crushing Pacquiao against the tactically brilliant Mayweather. Manny, who helped a million inhabitants of his poor homeland, against Floyd, who adores money and luxury. According to many, a duel between good and evil. But by all accounts a clash for history!

Financially, the match broke a number of records before it even started. His arena is more than clear. The American and world capital of gambling - Las Vegas. The most expensive ticket for the hall, which was sold out literally in a minute, with a capacity of nearly 17,000 seats, reached the sum of 40,000 dollars. The far cheaper option of watching the game on TV also turns out to be record-breaking. The American television giants set the viewers remarkable conditions to watch the long-awaited fight - 100 US dollars!

A sports match never brings such profits for no reason. So it is in the case of the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Before the fight, both are world champions in the welterweight category up to 67 kg. of a total of 4 different associations. After its end, one of the two will unite the belts in a meeting that has been negotiated for 5 years.

The statistics of the two in the professional ring also captures the interest. Bookies' favorite Floyd Mayweather enters the match on the back of a 47-game winning streak. The Michigan-born fighter has not known defeat since losing to Bulgaria's Serafim Todorov in the amateur ring. In contrast, the Filipino Pacquiao has 2 defeats in a total of 64 fights. In 2013, Manny lost back-to-back to American Timothy Bradley and Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. Three quick wins have given Pacquiao confidence back, and for the meeting with Floyd, he doesn't need any additional motivation.

This is also evident in the ring. The huge investment of the spectators is paying off, and the two fill the form of the fight of 12 rounds after exchanging initiative and stronger periods of the match. However, a unanimous decision declared the American champion. Years later, debate over the true winner remains, with Pacquiao fans adamant that he was the better of the two.

Either way, the "Match of the Century" goes down in history as the most expensive professional boxing match. The two share revenues of nearly 400 million dollars - 220 million for Floyd 150 for Manny Pacquiao.

In the modern world, such records do not last very long. More expensive matches are likely to appear soon. But this one will forever be part of the illustrious history of professional boxing. No matter the category.

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