Date:   Saturday, May 2, 2015

WBO/WBA/WBC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE BOUT

Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Promoter: Top Rank (Bob Arum) / Mayweather Promotions (Floyd Mayweather)

Supervisor:  Francisco Valcarcel, Esq.

Referee:  Kenny Bayless

Judges:  Burt A. Clements (112-116); Dave Moretti  (110-118); Glenn Feldman (112-116)

Results:   The WBA/WBC Welterweight Champion Floyd Mayweather won against WBO Welterweight Champion Manny Pacquiao by UD.   It was agreed beforehand that should he win, WBO title would be vacant.

TV: USA Showtime – USA HBO PPV – Mexico Televisa – Mexico Azteca – United Kingdom SKY – Hungary Sport 1 – Australia Main Event

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Credit:  Photos:  Al Bello/Getty Images; Mark J. Rebllas/USA Today/Reuters; Isaac Brekken/AP Photo; John Locher/AP Photo; Getty Images; Steve Marcus/Reuters;

By Shaun Al-Shatti –

The fight of the century came and went, and in the end, nothing changed. Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Manny Pacquiao to stay unbeaten on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV, seizing control of the latter stages of the fight to claim a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards.

Judges Burt Clements and Glenn Feldman scored the contest 116-112, while judge Dave Moretti scored it 118-110, all in favor of Mayweather. MMAFighting.com scored the bout 117-111 for Mayweather.

“He’s a hell of a fighter,” Mayweather said afterward of the rival he struggled to come to terms with for over half a decade. “I take my hat off to Manny Pacquiao. Now I see why he’s one of the guys who is at the pinnacle of the sport of boxing.”

In a fight that will likely go down as the most lucrative combat sports event ever, Mayweather battled through an unusually shaky start to seize momentum and gain control of the scorecards from round seven onwards. Pacquiao wanted to make it the contest a dogfight, and he did so early with some success, stalking Mayweather into the ropes and unloading his trademark punching flurries while cutting off the ring to great effect. The punching totals for both fighters were virtually identical by the start of the eighth round, but then Mayweather took over.

Led behind his jab, “Money” proved once again why he’s the greatest defensive fighter of our era, lulling Pacquiao’s offense into a standstill and outlanding the legendarily aggressive Filipino by a mark of 148 to 81 by the fight’s end.

“I knew he was going to push me,” Mayweather said. “I knew he was going to win some rounds. He had moments in the fight, but I kept him on the outside. I was the smarter fighter. I outboxed him.”

Pacquiao (57-6-2), for his part, believed he won the fight, claiming that Mayweather “did nothing” and was largely running away throughout the contest. The judges disagreed though, and according to official fight statistics, Pacquiao landed double-digit punch totals just three times over the course of 12 rounds, with Mayweather’s movement and defense proving too stifling for Pacquiao to overcome.

Mayweather (48-0) now moves into the final fight of the massively lucrative contract he signed in 2013 with Showtime. And with Rocky Marciano’s hallowed mark of 49-0 within sight, the next time we see “Money” Mayweather may very well be the last.

“My last fight is in September, then it’s time for me to hang it up,” he said. “I’m almost 40 years old. I’ve been in the sport 19 years, I’ve been world champion 18 years. I’m truly thankful and I’m blessed.”

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http://www.mmafighting.com/2015/5/3/8538745/mayweather-vs-pacquiao-results-floyd-mayweather-outpaces-manny

calzaghe66

By Chris Williams: It’s become abundantly clear that for Manny Pacquiao to have a chance of winning on Saturday night in his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao is going to need to put a great deal of pressure on Mayweather and look to overwhelm him with combinations in each and every round of the 12 round fight.

Former super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe realizes the predicament that Pacquiao is in and he feels that he’s going to need to stay on top of Mayweather for the full three minutes of every round for him to be able to get the victory.

Calzaghe notes that Marcos Maidana had success at times against Mayweather by pressuring him, and he thinks that Pacquiao might be able to have the same kind of success if he can pressure him in the same way.

“Manny Pacquiao has definitely got a chance. He has to be very fast, [throw] fast combinations, use his southpaw skills, but don’t be too careless because Mayweather is really good with that right hand and that left hook,” Calzaghe said via Sky Sports News HQ.

Throwing combinations works against fighters that standstill for you to get your shots off, but against mobile fighters like Mayweather, it’s going to be very difficult. Pacquiao has been able to throw a lot of shots against stationary fighters like Joshua Clottey, Brandon Rios and Tim Bradley, but he’s going to have a difficult time against a fighter like Mayweather.

Pacquiao will need to be able to chase Mayweather around the ring if he’s to land his combinations like Calzaghe mentions. I don’t know if that’s something that the short-legged Pacquiao is going to be able to do in this fight because Mayweather changes direction well, so even if you catch up to him, he’s going to reverse direction and make the Filipino fighter look really bad. The only way Pacquiao might do well is if Mayweather stops with his back against the ropes either to rest or to test what Pacquiao has got in terms of offensive fire power. If Mayweather discovers that Pacquiao has too much for him in that kind of combat, then he’s going to go mobile and force Pacquiao to use his shorter legs to chase him. In that case the full advantage will go to Mayweather.

“There is no way he is going to out-box Floyd Mayweather,” Calzaghe said. “When it comes to boxing skills, Mayweather is a much better fighter. Manny Pacquiao needs to be aggressive, he needs to throw punches in bunches, combinations, have a high work rate, like Maidana did.” Calzaghe said.

Asking Pacquiao to ape Maidana isn’t going to work because Mayweather isn’t going to use the same style that he employed in the Maidana fights. Its apples and oranges here. Calzaghe isn’t giving Mayweather much credit at all for his ability to adapt and use a different game plan to fit a different opponent.

Getting Mayweather to stop in order for Pacquiao to throw his combinations will require for Pacquiao to hold Mayweather down the way Maidana did by him leaning on him with his 165 pound frame. Given that Pacquiao may come into the fight at no higher than 150 pounds, I don’t think it’s going to happen.

Pacquiao will be too light to lean on Mayweather and I don’t think it would work anyway because Pacquiao doesn’t have a good inside game at all period. He’s just a little fighter that shoots forward, throws a small flurry, and then scurries away to the outside.

“I would have to go with the undefeated fighter, Mayweather, to win the fight, probably on points, but Manny Pacquiao is a very dangerous fighter,” Calzaghe said.

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2015/04/calzaghe-pacquiao-can-give-mayweather-problems-by-throwing-combinations/

 

 

looking-for-mayweatherWhile he’s the WBO junior middleweight champion, Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade aspires to a much bigger goal. He hopes to take on one of boxing’s all-time greats in Floyd Mayweather Jr., who this past weekend pocketed $32 million in beating Marcos Maidana. Andrade is in Jacksonville working with his massage therapist while he continues training for a title defense June 14 on HBO.  John Sudbrink/The Daily News –

By Rick Scoppe-

Six years after returning from the Olympics without a medal following a disputed quarterfinal loss in Beijing, Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade is 20-0 as a professional and the World Boxing Organization junior middleweight champion.

To some, that might seem a rapid ascent.

But if the 26-year-old southpaw has his way, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

While his first title defense against WBO top-rated mandatory challenger Brian “The Lion” Rose (25-1, 7KOs) is scheduled for June 14 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on HBO, Andrade has bigger aspirations – much bigger aspirations.

His eyes, not to mention his “mind, body and soul,” are on the prize, which is none other than to face one of the sports’ all-time greats, 37-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr., the nine-time, five-division world champion who beat Marcos Maidana on Saturday night in a majority decision for the 46th victory in his career that is without a blemish.

As soon as the fight was finished there were those calling for a rematch, but if Andrade has his way he’ll be next to step into the ring against Mayweather, who earned $32 million for his latest victory.

“I’m just ready to get in there, whup the lion (Rose) and tame him; he’s going to be my little cub and I’m going for the big shot,” Andrade said. “I do want Mayweather. There’s nobody out there for me other than him.”

First, however, Andrade, must beat Rose. To do that, Andrade said he’s working hard in training camp, which for the past week has been in Jacksonville, where he came to see his massage therapist, Lori-Ann Gallant-Heilboran, whom he first worked with during the 2008 Olympics. Along with working with her, Andrade has been working out both in town as well as aboard Camp Lejeune.

“We’re just bracing ourselves for whatever we have to do on fight night. That brought us up here,” Andrade said during an interview at The Daily News office. “We’re doing everything we need to do.”

Andrade, who was born in Providence, R.I., and now lives in Atlanta, won the WBO title in November, claiming a 12-round, split-decision over 2004 U.S. Olympian Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan (33-1-1, 21 KOs) on Nov. 11.

Andrade said Martirosyan “kind of ran the whole night,” and some observers questioned the judge who scored the bout for Martirosyan. Nonetheless, Andrade won the title and now faces Rose as the co-main event at the 18,103-seat Barclays Center.

“Winning the title is just the beginning, the first part of being a superstar or being one of the greats,” Andrade said. “Anybody can win on any given night a title. It’s about what you’re going to do afterwards, if you can hold onto it for longevity, and that’s what I plan on doing. We’re working extremely hard and smarter and doing everything we need to do to overcome whatever comes our way.”

Starting with Rose, a bout Andrade predicted won’t go the distance. Then, he hopes and dreams, it’s on to Mayweather.

“When I win June 14th…, I would call Mayweather out. But I can’t rely on that guy. He pretty much is self-made and picks his opponent and is going to go whatever’s going to generate the most income. Can I blame him for that? No. He’s already did everything in the sport he needed to do. But if he wants to go against somebody that’s undefeated, going to give him an arduous time in that ring, that’s me,” Andrade said.

“I’m ready if he wants to do it. If not, all I can do, and all I told my supporters and my believers and myself, is I will carry the torch when his time is up.”

Mayweather has three fights left on a lucrative six-fight contract, which leaves him room to fight Andrade – if he decides to. Does Andrade believe that one night he’ll slip through the ropes to take on Mayweather?

“It’s hard to tell. Can it happen? Maybe. It’s 50-50 chance. It’s up in the air,” he said. “I’m undefeated with a belt. There’s nobody else in the 154 weight class that’s undefeated, that’s long, that’s slick and that will give him a difficult time, and people want to see it. I know I haven’t been fighting a long time like him. … But now that I’m the WBO (champ) the light’s starting to come toward my way I can be able to call out top guys now. It’s up to them to take the fight.”

And make no mistake about it, if he beats Rose next month, Andrade will stand up on HBO and proclaim he wants Mayweather.

“I will be shouting him out,” he said. “I don’t see anybody else in the 154 division other than me to get in the ring with him, but there are fighters at 147 he can fight also. It’s on him. He can do whatever he wants to do. My job is to keep on winning, give the fans what they want so they can keep shouting my name. If it doesn’t happen, I’m going to be the one that carries that torch and gives excitement and be the next greatness of boxing.”

http://www.jdnews.com/sports/local/wbo-champ-andrade-wants-shot-at-mayweather-1.316325

Andrade.wbobelt

Photo: abc6.com/wlne.images.worldnow.com/images/24637198_BG1.jpg

ATLANTA – Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior middleweight champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (20-0, 13 KOs) is shooting for the stars, better make that, The Star.

Not only does Andrade plan to succeed Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. as boxing’s pound-for-pound champion and biggest draw, the slick southpaw hopes to fight Mayweather prior to “Money” closing his boxing bank, so to speak.

Andrade, a native of Providence who now lives in Atlanta, defeated previously unbeaten  2004 U.S. Olympian Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan (33-1-1, 21 KOs) by 12-round decision for the vacant WBO title last November on HBO. The 25-year-old is now required to make his first title defense, likely in April according to Andrade, against WBO No. 1-rated mandatory challenger Brian “The Lion” Rose (25-1-1, 7 KOs).

The 36-year-old Mayweather (45-0, 26 KOs) will face either Amir Khan or Marcus Maidana on May 3 in Las Vegas on Showtime PPV.  The nine-time, five-division world champion Mayweather is the reigning WBC and WBA Super junior middleweight title holder.

“I’m getting ready to take over boxing after Mayweather retires,” Andrade said.  “I want to match my natural, God-given skills against his before he hangs up his gloves for good. Let’s unify the titles, Floyd.  We can do it here in Atlanta, Las Vegas or New York. You pick the place, just don’t leave me hanging and retire without fighting me. This is my time!”

Mayweather announced that he will fight only four more times, including May 3, and then retire next year from the ring as a boxer. Andrade needs to quickly position himself as a viable opponent and rising star in order to be seriously considered as one of only three more Mayweather opponents.  A match-up between the two could be like the passing of the torch, assuming Andrade continues to develop in the ring and marketable product.

Andrade has been described by some as a younger, taller (by 5 inches), southpaw version of Mayweather because of their similar styles and tremendous boxing skills.  Their similarities don’t end there, however. They are both African-Americans who flash endearing smiles, in addition to being former US Olympians (Mayweather – 1996 Olympic bronze medalist, Andrade – 2008), multiple National Golden Gloves champions (Mayweather 1993, 1994 & 1996, Andrade 2006 & 2007), and two of the few undefeated professional prizefighters.  Andrade was also the 2007 World Championships gold medalist.

Is Mayweather vs. Andrade in the stars?  Stay tuned, boxing fans.

http://www.boxingscene.com/andrade-ill-take-over-boxing-mayweather-retires–74599

By Chris LaBate

WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is still very interested in facing Floyd Mayweather Jr., who captured the WBC title with a fourth round knockout of Victor Ortiz in September. Pacquiao defends his belt against Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

After defeating Ortiz, Mayweather told members of the media – “I don’t need Pacquiao. Every time I go out there I’m going to make $70 million. I don’t need Pacquiao. Pacquiao is famous because he is attached to my name. When they say Pacquiao, they say that’s the guy they are trying to get to fight Floyd Mayweather. When they say Floyd Mayweather – they say that’s an all-time great.”

Pacquiao, during a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, said he’d like to fight Mayweather, but he can’t force his rival’s hand to make a deal. Mayweather claims Pacquiao is not willing to agree to a pre-fight random drug testing protocol, which the Filipino boxer says he’s willing to accept. Pacquiao claims it’s Mayweather who doesn’t want to fight.

“Whoever I have to fight the rest of my career, I’m happy and satisfied with what I’ve done. I don’t need somebody else to be satisfied with what I’ve done. I don’t need to be looking for, or chasing, a fight. I want the fight, but I cannot force him to take it. He has to show he wants to fight me,” Pacquiao said.

http://www.boxingscene.com/pacquiao-i-t-force-mayweather-jr-fight-me–45266